The Lockwood Diaries Season One
by RoniCullen
Summary: Cynthia Lockwood is Tyler's younger sister. Over protective brother, not exactly A-plus parenting from her mom and dad, having to deal with high school... Her life is a whirlwind. And that's before the Salvatore Brothers come to town and the supernatural world is revealed.
1. Pilot

**A/N This is non-canon to my other Vampire Diaries fanfictions. **

**Basically, it just follows the series with Tyler's little sister, Cynthia Lockwood. ****Even though she won't learn of the supernatural world for a while, I'll try to keep it interesting. **

**For readers of my other fanfictions, I promise I'll still update The Vampire Diaries Season Five and The Vampire Diaries Next Generation (for that, I might not update for a while. Writer's block is a killer!). I just had to write this one down. I blame my muses, you can blame me. **

**Please review and tell me what you think! Reviews are always important!**

* * *

Cynthia Lockwood was buried under a pile of blankets, pillows and stuffed animals. Suddenly the alarm she'd set on her phone was blaring. She groaned and her hand came out from underneath everything to grab it from the other side of her queen sized bed. She loved having a queen sized bed. It wasn't like there was ever a boy on that side, so she had her laptop, phone and a pile of her favorite books there. She slapped at her phone and finally found the button to shut off the alarm. Then she sat up, shoving everything off her. Her bedroom door opened and her mom poked her head inside the room.

"You can't be late for school." She reminded Cynthia. Cynthia nodded and rolled herself out of bed. Her mom shut the door again.

"Yeah, nice talking to you too, mom." Cynthia said sarcastically. She crossed the room to get to her closet. Once she was dressed in a pair of denim shorts, a yellow and grey striped t-shirt and black sandals, she went over to her desk and flipped open her diary. She'd taken to keeping a diary over the summer. There was no particular reason why. She just figured that keeping a diary was the sort of thing teenage girls did.

_Dear diary, _

_Today is going to be a good day. School has started again. I never thought I'd be glad about that. But with my dysfunctional family, school is a welcome distraction. Plus: Jeremy will be there. I won't bring up anything about either one of our families. He's still upset about his parents' death. Who can blame him, though? However, I will try to be his friend again. We were friends when we were kids. But then Vicki Donovan came in and ruined everything. Now, Tyler and Jeremy are sworn enemies like this is some stupid movie and Jeremy doesn't talk to me because I'm Tyler's sister and apparently that makes me the enemy too. Sucks to be me, huh? _

"Writing about me?" She jumped up from her chair and whirled around. Her older brother, Tyler, smirked at her from where he'd snuck in and sat down on her bed. He was the only one that she allowed in her room. Despite the two year age difference and the fact that they had extremely few things in common, they were close as far as siblings went.

"Tyler! Get out, now!" She ordered, pointing towards the door. Tyler put his hands up, as if surrendering to the fifteen year old girl.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. Don't hurt me!" He pleaded, pretending to be scared. That made her laugh and she smacked him on the arm.

"Come on. We've got to get breakfast before we go." He added on a more serious note, nodding towards the door as he got up. She nodded and then went to give him a shove out of the room.

"I'll be down in a minute!" She shut the door behind him and then went over to her dresser. She slipped on a chain necklace, combed out her light brown hair and grabbed her book bag. Then she went downstairs, shutting her bedroom door tightly behind her. She went down to the kitchen.

"Coffee." Tyler said, passing her a mug filled with steaming coffee. She took it gratefully, settling down at the breakfast bar with it.

"I've got work to do. Make sure you get to school on time." Mrs. Lockwood told them before hurrying off. Cynthia got up and went to the fridge. She grabbed a can of Reddi-Wip and squirted some in her mouth. Tyler shot her a look.

"What mom doesn't know can't get us in trouble." She told him. He grabbed the can from her and squirted some in his own mouth.

"Agreed." They passed the can around for a couple minutes before Tyler put it back in the fridge.

"We need to go." Cynthia grabbed her bag and then followed him out to his 1971 Buick GS. She climbed into the passenger seat. He drove towards the school.

"Now, remember, if anyone gives you trouble-." Tyler started, keeping his eyes on the road.

"They will have to deal with a hundred and ten pounds of crazy in a five foot two package." She told him.

"Come to me." He corrected. She rolled her big brown eyes and braced her feet on the dashboard.

"I am perfectly capable of handling myself." She told him. He pulled up in the school parking lot and turned off the car.

"Yeah, no, you aren't." He told her. They climbed out of the car. Cynthia shouldered her bag and smiled. Tyler and Cynthia headed off in their separate ways. Cynthia walked over to Jeremy.

"Hey." She greeted, going over to him as he leaned against a tree, hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

"Lockwood." He greeted her solely by her last name, which meant that he was mad at her.

"Jeremy-." She started. Before she could get anything else out, Vick skipped over. Jeremy handed her a bottle of pills.

"Don't take more than two in a six hour window." He warned her, ignoring Cynthia. She took the pills. Just then, Tyler came up and slung an arm around Vicki's shoulders.

"Hey, Vicki. I knew I'd find you here with the crack heads." Tyler shot Jeremy a look.

"Hey." Vicki greeted him, snuggling up to his side.

"Hey, Pete Wentz called. He wants his nail polish back." Tyler added to Jeremy.

"Tyler, be nice!" Cynthia snapped at him.

"Pete Wentz, huh? How old school T.R.L of you. Carson Daly fan?" Jeremy and Tyler kept going like she hadn't spoken.

"Oh, Ty, be nice. That's Elena's little brother." Vicki said.

"I know who he is. I'll still kick his-."

"Tyler!" Cynthia warned. Tyler rolled his eyes and kissed Vicki. They walked away. Cynthia turned back to Jeremy.

"Are you high?" She asked him. He rolled his eyes.

"Leave me alone, Lockwood." He walked off. Cynthia sighed and went into the school. She bumped into someone as she walked in.

"Oh, sorry!" She gasped, looking up.

"Oh, it's okay." She stared at the brown haired boy she had never seen at school before.

"I'm Cynthia Lockwood."

"Stefan Salvatore."

"You're new, right?"

"Yeah… Actually, could you show me to the office?" He asked. She nodded quickly.

"Yeah, sure." She agreed. She led him over to the office.

"Thanks." He told her. She nodded.

"Sure. See you around." She waved and left him at the office.

* * *

Later, she was at her locker when another boy came up to her.

"Hey, Little Lockwood!" He greeted her, checking her out.

"Hey…" She said slowly. The bell rang and she headed off to class. Tyler caught the boy's arm.

"Stay away from my sister." He warned. The boy scoffed and walked off. Tyler shot him a death look and followed Cynthia to class.

* * *

"Cynthia!" Tyler poked his head into her bedroom. She had her music on loud enough that she didn't hear him. She was on her window seat, writing in her diary.

_Dear Diary, _

_Today was…interesting. Tyler and Jeremy: fighting. Elena: still upset. Who can blame her either, though? Oh! There's a new kid in town! Stefan Salvatore. _

"Cynthia!" Tyler said again, turning off her music. She jumped and looked over at him, closing her diary.

"What?" She asked.

"You want to do to that party?"

"That party by the falls? The thing you told me you would never allow me to go to?" She asked, shooting him a look.

"When I said that, you were thirteen and not in high school. Now you're fifteen. You are allowed to go. You coming or not?" He asked.

"Yeah, just let me change." He walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. She changed into a pair of new jeans, a blue and pink floral top with silver flats and a pink sweatshirt. Once she was dressed, she went to join Tyler in his car.

* * *

When they got to the party, Tyler caught her by the hood of her sweatshirt as she tried to walk away.

"Hey, don't go too far. Just stay with everyone else." He told her. She rolled her eyes.

"What did I say earlier? I'm perfectly capable of handling myself!"

"What did _I_ say earlier? No, you aren't." She sighed and then yanked her hood out of his hand.

"I'm just going to talk to Jeremy? Is that acceptable, oh mighty one?" She scoffed and walked over to Jeremy.

"Hey, Jeremy!" She greeted him. He wasn't listening to her, though. He was watching Tyler and Vicki.

"Hmm… Yeah, hey. Gotta go." He walked off. She stared after her, feeling a bit unwanted. Someone placed a hand on her shoulder and she whirled around.

"Hey." Stefan greeted her. She smiled halfway at him.

"Hey, Stefan. I see you made it to the party." She returned, nodding to him.

"I did. Is your brother Tyler Lockwood?"

"Yeah. Has he already been a jerk to you?"

"No, no… Just heard about him."

"Yeah. People talk. He's not _that_ bad. Well, not to me anyway." She explained to him.

"Hmm… Well, it was good to see you. Have a good night." He told her. She nodded and smiled at him.

"Thanks. You too." He walked away to go to Elena just as Jeremy came back up to Cynthia.

"Your brother-."

"My brother is a jerk. I know. Title of my autobiography." She interrupted him.

"He was trying to force himself onto Vicki." She tried to keep the surprise off her face. That was a jerk-move, even for Tyler.

"I'll handle him." She started to walk off, but he caught her by the sleeve of her hoodie. She turned to him with a frown; she was getting real tired of people saying she couldn't handle herself.

"Give him heck for me." She couldn't help but grin at him. He let go off her arm. With a renewed sense of strength, she headed over to Tyler. She grabbed him by the hood of his sweatshirt like he'd done to her and used it as a leash to haul him off into the trees. She gave him a smack on the shoulder for good measure.

"What were you thinking?! No way you're that drunk already, so don't you even think about giving me excuses, Tyler Lockwood!" She told him.

"One: ow!" He held his arm painfully. She smirked. It had hurt; good.

"Two: what are you talking about, little sis?" He asked her, forgetting about his arm.

"Do not 'little sis' me!" She smacked him again, so hard that it hurt _her_ hand. She ignored the pain.

"Why do you have to be a jerk all the time?!" She cried.

"How do you even-… Jeremy. That little punk sent _you_ to handle what he doesn't have the guts to?" Tyler scoffed and shook his head.

"Jeremy told me. He didn't send me to 'handle' anything! But if he did, we both know it would work. Because I am the _one person you're afraid of_." She growled. She was a good foot shorter than him and in no way muscular, but everyone knew that she could handle him. He wouldn't dare hurt her and he wasn't willing to have her pissed at him for too long. Before either one of them could say anything else, they heard Jeremy shout something. Before Tyler could grab her, Cynthia sprinted towards the sound of his voice. Tyler raced after her. Cynthia got to Jeremy and Elena as they leaned over an unconscious Vicki.

"What happened?" Cynthia asked, kneeling down next to Vicki too.

"She was attacked by something. She's bleeding." Elena replied in a shaky voice. Cynthia pulled off her hoodie.

"Here, use this." Elena took it and placed it against Vicki's neck.

"You just left her in the woods?!" Jeremy demanded of Tyler.

"I left her with you, you little punk. Remember, right before you ran to my little sister for help handling me?" Tyler told him.

"Both of you shut up! This isn't helping anything!" Cynthia shouted. Jeremy picked up Vicki and headed back towards the party. Elena walked with him, holding Cynthia's sweatshirt to Vicki's neck wound. Tyler and Cynthia hurried to follow them.

"Somebody help!" Elena yelled as they put Vicki on a picnic table.

"Vicki?! What happened?!" Matt demanded.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Cynthia said.

"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler ordered.

"It's her neck; something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood!"

* * *

After Matt left in the ambulance with Vicki, Cynthia walked over to Jeremy, who was drinking a beer.

"Those guys in uniforms are police, moron." She grabbed the beer bottle from him and threw it away. He shot her a look but said nothing.

"I didn't mean you had to handle Tyler earlier."

"I know you didn't. But it's kind of my job. I'll see you later." She told him. He nodded once. She hurried to go climb in the passenger seat of Tyler's car. He drove towards their house. At a stop sign, he reached back to grab his leather jacket from the backseat. He draped it over Cynthia's shoulders. She mumbled a 'thank you' under her breath but wouldn't look at him as he kept driving.

"Still pissed at me?"

"Nah, I'm totally over it." Sarcasm was always one of Cynthia's strong suits.

"I'm sorry."

"How about apologizing to Vicki? Or Jeremy? Or even Matt since that was his sister." She suggested through her teeth.

"I know I can be a jerk-." He started. She turned on him, jumping at the chance he'd given her.

"All the time." She interrupted. They had pulled up at their house. He turned off the car and then looked at her.

"But we both know the Lockwood Curse. Anger management problems." He reminded her.

"Then mange it. I do." She threw his jacket at him and got out of the car. She hurried into the house.

"Hey, honey. How was the party?" Her mom asked, not looking up from her paperwork. Cynthia didn't break brace as she ran for her bedroom.

"It sucked." She got to her bedroom and slammed the door shut. She stripped off her clothes, got into her nightgown and then crawled into bed.

* * *

**A/N Hope you guys liked the first episode/chapter. **

**Throughout this fanfiction series, Cynthia and Tyler's relationship is a big thing. They'll be mad at each other and then they'll make up and then another fight. Normal sibling relationship in an abnormal town. **

**Anyway, as said above, reviews are always appreciated! **


	2. Night of the Comet

**A/N I hope you guys like this chapter/episode. I'll try to update every other day for this one, but I can't make any promises. **

**As always, please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

Cynthia's alarm blared. She shut it off and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Once she'd combed out her hair and she was dressed in a brown shirt with a green vest over it, jeans and black boot, she grabbed her grey shoulder bag and headed downstairs. She grabbed a coke from the fridge and warmed up a piece of pizza from dinner last night. Her mom was doing some more paperwork at the kitchen table, so Cynthia flopped down at the breakfast bar. Tyler came into the kitchen.

"Hey, Cynthia, we need to go." He said, holding up his car keys for emphasis.

"Fine. Go. I'll walk." She told him. He looked like he was going to protest, but he just shook his head and walked out again. Mrs. Lockwood looked at Cynthia.

"Did you and Tyler have a fight?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Cynthia put her empty plate in the sink.

"It doesn't matter." She mumbled. She grabbed her bag again and headed for the front door, but her mom's voice stopped her.

"Yes, it does. Cynthia, I want to-." Cynthia whirled around to face her mother.

"To what? Be involved? You lost that right a long time ago! All you do is work and work and work! You never make time for us. So no, it doesn't matter at all!"

"Young lady, respect your mother." Mr. Lockwood said sternly, coming into the kitchen as he sipped his coffee.

"And you are no better! You know why you call me 'young lady'? Cause you don't remember your own daughter's name half the time!" She yelled at him. Then she was out of the house, running towards school. She slowed down after a couple blocks and walked the rest of the way, fuming.

"Cause I vote for right here and right now!" She turned towards Jeremy's voice. He and Tyler were arguing a few yards away. She jogged over there to break it up.

"Walk away, Gilbert, this is your final warning." Tyler told him.

"Hey, both of you knock it off!" Cynthia told them.

"No this is your final warning!"

"Jeremy, please-."

"I'm sick of watching you play Vicki. If you hurt her one more time, I swear, I'll kill you!" Jeremy finished.

"Was that a death threat? Did you hear that?" Tyler asked, looking down at Cynthia, smirking.

"Tyler!" She protested. Jeremy was walking away. Cynthia groaned and hurried after him. She caught up with him and neither one of them stopped.

"Tyler would-." Cynthia started to tell Jeremy.

"I'm real tired of everyone saying I can't handle myself."

"Join the club." Now they both stopped to look at each other.

"Remember the last school year?" She asked. He nodded slowly.

"When we were best friends… I can't control Tyler, Jeremy, as much as I would love to claim I could. But can you just not take it out on me?" She asked. Another slow nod.

"I kind of missed hanging out with you. But now I'm not coming to your house."

"Then I can come to yours. I'm not so thrilled with the people in my house at the moment either." She admitted.

"We have class."

"Right. Let's go." They hurried off.

* * *

That night was the 'Night of the Comet'. Cynthia was in the Mystic Grills, eating french fries silently.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" She looked up at Jeremy's voice.

"You're her stalker. You tell us." Tyler told him. She got up and walked over to them.

"I can't find her." Jeremy went on.

"She probably found someone else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."

"What's with the 'pill pusher'?" Elena asked.

"Ask him." Tyler said.

"You want to do this right now?" Jeremy asked.

"Tyler, shut up for once." Cynthia snapped at him.

"Are you dealing?" Elena asked Jeremy.

"She's never gonna go for you." Tyler went on.

"She already did. Over and over and over again!" Jeremy told him. Cynthia couldn't help but feel hurt. Then she wondered why she felt hurt.

"Yeah right."

"You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Caroline asked in disbelief.

"There's no way." Tyler said.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it."

"What the heck is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asked.

"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk."

"You know what? How about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt suggested.

"We'll check the back." Bonnie said, pulling Caroline away.

"I'll check the square." Matt added.

"I'll come with you." Jeremy started to follow, but Elena stopped him.

"Oh no you don't! You're coming with me." She hauled him off. Tyler hurried out of the Grill and Cynthia went after him.

"Done avoiding me?" He asked, looking around the town square.

"I'm just helping you find Vicki." She corrected him, looking around for her too. It didn't look like she was there…

"Why are you avoiding me? I apologized." He reminded her, turning to look down at her.

"I'm avoiding our entire family right now, Tyler. Because I've learned that my whole family sucks and I need a break from the sucky-ness." She told him.

"You didn't always think that I sucked." He reminded her.

"I got smarter." They just stared at each other for a minute, letting the words sink in.

"How many times do I have to apologize?" He finally asked, annoyed.

"It doesn't matter how many times you apologize, Tyler. You're still a hypocrite. You would have killed a guy if he treated me like you treat Vicki." With that said, she stormed off. She walked down the sidewalk, arms folded across her chest. This is the second time today she was fuming. After she was out of sight of Tyler, she stopped and flopped down on the sidewalk. A minute later, her phone beeped. She pulled it out of her vest pocket and looked at the text she'd received from Tyler.

_Stefan found V. Can stop searching_

She typed back a response as she stood up again.

_Fine_

She headed back towards the Grill. As she was about to go in, Jeremy hurried out, frowning. Cynthia poked her head inside. Tyler and Vicki were making out in the middle of the restaurant. Cynthia rolled her eyes and followed Jeremy.

"Sit." She ordered, catching up to him. He hesitated, but then obeyed, sitting down on the edge of the sidewalk. She sat down next to him.

"Is being a teenager supposed to suck so badly?" She wondered out loud.

"Everyone else seems to be handling it pretty well." He mumbled. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Maybe we're the ones that suck at being teenagers."

"Maybe…."

"I don't want to go home." She complained after a minute of silence.

"Come to my house." He offered.

"And your aunt and sister would just love that." She said sarcastically. He smiled over at her.

"We used to spend nights at each other's houses all the time." He reminded her. She smiled back.

"Yeah, when we were ten." She shot back. He laughed a little. She sighed.

"I miss being your best friend."

"Me too, _Cyn_." He referred to her by her old nickname. She giggled and shoved his shoulder playfully.

"Come on." He stood up and offered her his hand to help her up. She took it and he pulled her up to her feet again. They headed for the Gilbert house.

* * *

A/N** As you can probably guess, I'm really having fun writing the Tyler/Cynthia sibling relationship along with the Jeremy/Cynthia friendship. **

**I'm not sure who she'll be dating (well, actually, I know one guy but he's not for a long, long time), but there will be a romantic subplot soon. **

**Hope you guys liked it and reviews are always appreciated! **


	3. Friday Night Bites

**A/N I hope you guys like this episode. Reviews are welcome!**

* * *

Cynthia woke up in Jeremy's bed. She was lying with her head by the headboard while Jeremy had his head at the foot of the bed next to her, just like they used to do. She rolled herself out of the bed.

"Hey." Jeremy greeted her without opening his eyes.

"Hey, Jeremy. I need to get back home to change clothes." She explained. He sat up.

"Fine. See you at school?"

"Of course."

* * *

She walked into the Lockwood mansion and shut the door quietly behind her.

"Where were you last night?" She jumped and looked at Tyler.

"None of your business." She snapped, heading for the stairs.

"Really? Because I think it becomes my business when my baby sister is sneaking back in like a hooker." He was almost yelling.

"Did you just call me a hooker? And you wonder why people don't like you!" She yelled back.

"Where were you?" He repeated.

"Jeremy's house. Happy?" She asked with a smirk. Mrs. Lockwood came into the room.

"Hey! What is with the yelling?" She asked, looking between the seventeen year old and the fifteen year old.

"Nothing." Cynthia told her dryly. She hurried up the stairs to her bedroom. Once she had changed into a pink t-shirt with dark wash jeans, a black leather jacket and leather boots, she headed out of the house again.

* * *

When she got to school, she didn't see Jeremy and didn't feel like going to the stoner pit to see him, so she continued on.

"Hey, little Lockwood!" Matt greeted her as she walked past him and Tyler throwing a football around.

"Hey, Matt." She returned, avoiding even looking at Tyler.

"Oookay… I'm getting some bad vibes here." Matt said, looking between them.

"She's just mad that I caught her sneaking back in after a night at Jeremy's." Tyler told him, shooting Cynthia a stern look. She shot him a hateful one back. Matt wasn't paying attention to them anymore though; he was watching Stefan and Elena.

"Look there's Elena and her new boyfriend. Now, what are they doing? They're walking, walking, walking… Yep, right into the sunset." Tyler teased.

"Jerk." Matt and Cynthia said in unison.

"While you just stand there, like one of those little yard trolls."

"Gnomes, idiot." Cynthia corrected him.

"What am I supposed to do, Ty? She made her choice." Matt reminded him.

"Let her know she made the one wrong." He took the football and prepared to throw it at Stefan.

"What are you doing? Ty, don't!" Matt warned.

"Tyler!" Cynthia cried. He threw the ball right at the back of Stefan's head. Stefan spun around, caught it and threw it back. Tyler stumbled back with the force as he caught it. Cynthia laughed in surprise.

"I think you just got owned, Tyler." She told her brother, smirking at him. He didn't look at her as he stared at Stefan, but he did shoot back a reply.

"Oh shut up."

* * *

Later that day, the cheerleaders were warming up. Bonnie was helping Cynthia tie her hair back in a braid when Elena showed up.

"You're here!" They said in surprise. Elena nodded to them.

"Yep. I can't be sad girl forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were is to do things that were." Elena explained.

"Well, good! I missed you!" Cynthia hugged Elena, who giggled and hugged her back.

"Oh, Bonnie, you're coming to dinner tonight." She added.

"I am?"

"Mm hmm. You, me and Stefan. You have to give him a chance."

"Tonight's no good. Have either of you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."

"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett! You're going to be there."

"Fine. I'll go."

"Good." Cynthia looked around.

"Seriously, where's Caroline?"

"I don't know. It's not like her." Elena admitted.

"I'll try her again." Bonnie said, pulling out her phone from her bag.

"Uh, Bonnie, Cynthia…" They turned towards where Elena was looking.

"That must be the mystery guy from the Grill." Bonnie said. She had pulled up in a car with a dark haired guy older than her.

"That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore." Elena said.

"Salvatore?! As in Stefan?" Cynthia asked in shock. Caroline walked over to them.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Caroline told Elena with a smirk. She turned to the rest of the cheerleaders.

"Sorry, I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say? And five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today?" Elena sighed and walked away from the others. Cynthia dropped her pom-poms and walked over to join Elena.

"Hey." She greeted Elena. Elena smiled halfway at her.

"I guess I'm a little rusty." She admitted. Cynthia shrugged.

"It happens. You'll get better." They turned to watch the football practice just in time to see Tyler set it up so Stefan got tackled to the ground, hard.

"I know."

"What?" Elena asked her, confused.

"Oh. I thought you were going to tell me that my brother's a jerk."

"No, I wasn't."

"You're the first."

* * *

The next night, there was the big football game. Tyler grinned over at Cynthia.

"You look preppy."

"Still mad at you." She replied dryly. He went to take his place with the other football players as Coach Tanner got up to the stage.

"Wait, wait, let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us. But that is about to change. We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" Everyone cheered loudly.

"I have only one thing to say to you: The Timber wolves are hungry and the Central High lions are what's for dinner!" More cheering. Tyler walked past Cynthia and she glanced behind her to see where he was going. He was heading towards Jeremy. She cursed under her breath as they started exchanging blows and looked around. She hurried over to Matt and Stefan.

"Tyler and Jeremy are trying to kill each other!" Matt and Stefan hurried over to them and she followed. By the time she got there, Jeremy and Tyler were brawling on the ground while Vicki shouted for Tyler to stop. Stefan grabbed Tyler's wrist as he went to punch Jeremy again.

"Hey! He's down. Enough!" Tyler punched Stefan but it had no effect; Stefan didn't even flinch. Jeremy grabbed a broken glass bottle and slashed it at Tyler. Stefan blocked it with his hand as Matt hauled Tyler away.

"Jeremy!" Elena and Cynthia cried in unison. Cynthia dragged him back while Elena went to go check on Stefan.

"What the heck, Jeremy?!" Cynthia demanded, bracing her hands against his shoulders to keep him from going back for Tyler.

"Get off." He shoved her hands off and she stumbled backwards, but managed to keep her balance.

"You're bleeding." She told him. He wiped at his blood nose with his sleeve.

"I'm fine."

"Yeah. You smell fine." She snapped. She could smell the alcohol on him, even from where she was standing a couple feet away. Elena hurried over to Jeremy, so Cynthia turned to Stefan.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly. He nodded.

"I'm fine."

"But your hand-."

"Missed me." He interrupted with a short explanation. She gave him a confused look. She could have sworn that he'd been cut…

"I'm fine." He repeated reassuringly. He glanced back towards the field.

"Kick off's about to start. I gotta go." He hurried off. Cynthia turned back towards Tyler as he prepared to go the field too. She thought about telling him off, letting him really have a piece of her mind, but then saw Vicki. She let Tyler go and walked over to Vicki. She grabbed Vicki by the arm and pulled her away from anyone else.

"Hey! What the-." Vicki started to complain as they stopped behind the bleachers. Cynthia shoved her back.

"Don't you 'what the' whatever me! You are such a piece of work, you know that?!"

"What did I do?!"

"What haven't you done?!" They just stared at each other for a minute before Cynthia went on.

"You just love making my brother and my best friend try to kill each other, don't you?"

"You think I like this?!"

"I don't 'think' anything! I _know_. If you didn't like it, you wouldn't lead them both on like that. You crave attention, you want the spotlight. And this is your way of getting it. Leave me alone, for one, and for all I care right now: drop dead." Cynthia stalked off, leaving Vicki glaring after her. She headed behind the school and ran into Matt.

"Hey, C, have you seen Mr. Tanner? He's MIA."

"MIA?"

"Missing in action."

"Oh. No, I haven't. Maybe he's around here somewhere. I'll help you look for him." She offered.

"Uh…" He looked around the dark, backside of the school, knowing Tyler would hate it if she was hanging around here.

"What was the 'uh' for?" She asked.

"Tyler would hate you being here."

"Oooh, good. Let's go." She said, smiling widely. He smiled back at her.

"Fine, just stay close, okay?" She took his hand and they walked around, looking for Mr. Tanner.

"I think… I think I heard something over there." Cynthia said, pulling her hand from Matt's. She cautiously walked forward with Matt right behind her. She rounded the corner and screamed.

* * *

The police had showed up and taken away Mr. Tanner's body. Cynthia had told the police over and over again everything she'd seen. Finally, they walked off to talk to Matt and other students and left her alone.

"Cynthia, you okay?!" Tyler demanded as he hurried over to her. She folded her arms across her chest for warmth; the skimpy cheerleader outfit didn't provide much on its own.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm not the one that died in a parking lot behind a high school." She mumbled. Tyler pulled his jacket off and held it out. She turned and stuck her arms into the sleeves. He pulled it up for her.

"Thanks." She told him, enjoying the warmth of the too-big-for-her leather jacket.

"Why don't we get you home?" He asked. She nodded in agreement. They walked to his car. She climbed into the passenger seat while he got in the drivers seat.

"Are you still mad?" He asked cautiously as he drove them home. She sighed.

"I don't know." She admitted.

"You did hurt Jeremy, though, I should be." She added as an afterthought. He didn't respond to that; anything he thought of saying would have really pissed her off.

"I'm sorry." He finally said as they pulled up in the driveway to the Lockwood mansion.

"For what? Beating up Jeremy or being a jerk to me yesterday morning?"

"Take your pick."

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say both." She told him. He turned off the car and they sat there for a minute, too tired to get out.

"For the record… I was never really mad at you. I just wanted you to think I was." She mumbled under her breath so he could barely hear her. He nodded once.

"I know. Come on. Let's get inside." He got out and walked over to the other side of the car to help her out. They walked into the house together.

* * *

**A/N I hope you like how I write Tyler's and Cynthia's relationship. I know it's still kind of boring, but it'll still be a while until Cynthia learns of the supernatural world. But she will, so please be patient and bear with me!**


	4. Family Ties

**A/N Hope you guys like this chapter/episode. Please review and tell me what you think.**

* * *

In the Grill, the Lockwood family sat at one of the tables, eating dinner.

"So what happens with the season? One big forfeit? Are they looking for a new coach?" Mr. Lockwood asked.

"I don't know, dad. I doubt anyone's thinking about that right now." Tyler replied, annoyed.

"Richard, founder's party, focus." Mrs. Lockwood told him.

"How are y'all doing over here?" Vicki asked, walking over to the table.

"Ah, we're doing great, sweetheart." Mr. Lockwood replied. Cynthia couldn't help but stare at him. He was being nicer to Vicki than he had ever been to her.

"Is there anything else I can get you?"

"We're fine, thanks." Tyler told her.

"Just the check, honey."

"Here you go, Mayor Lockwood."

"Thanks." Vicki walked off.

"We should head home." Mrs. Lockwood said, looking over at Mr. Lockwood. He nodded.

"You guys coming?" He asked, looking at Cynthia and Tyler. They both shook their heads.

"We'll be home later." Tyler told him. He nodded. He and Mrs. Lockwood got up and left. Tyler moved to go after Vicki. Cynthia saw Jeremy and hurried over to him.

"Hey, Jeremy!"

"Huh? Oh, hey." He wasn't paying attention to her; he was watching Vicki and Tyler.

"So that Founder's party is tomorrow and I'm allowed to bring a date, finally. Want to go with me as kind of a friend-date?" She tried to get his attention. It didn't work. Vicki walked away from Tyler and Jeremy scoffed.

"You realize you had to ask him to ask you, right? You figure if you dress like a respectable young lady, he'll treat you like you one?"

"Screw you, Jeremy."

"You know you making the wrong choice, yet you make it anyway. It's sad." She shot him a look and walked off again.

"So… Jeremy?" He finally looked at Cynthia.

"What?"

"Founder's Party. Want to go with me?" She repeated.

"Ah… Not my kind of thing. Have fun, though." He got up and left. Tyler walked over to her.

"And you make fun of me for going after Vicki." He whispered to her, smirking. She watched Jeremy leave the Grill without answering.

"Don't tell you're actually upset he rejected you?" He asked, his tone slightly less mocking now.

"Not all of us are cocky-know-it-all's that never get rejected!" She snapped at him. He rolled his eyes.

"I just want to go home." She added, pulling her black and white striped sweater closer around her. He nodded once and got up from the bar stool.

"Okay. Let's go." He slung his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the Grill.

* * *

The next night was the Founder's Party. Cynthia sat on a bench in one of the hallways, avoiding everyone. She wore a pair of pink sandals and a knee length soft pink summer dress. Her long light brown hair was curled and left loose around her shoulders. She only looked up from her feet when someone sat down next to her. She looked at Stefan in surprise.

"Oh, hey." She greeted him.

"So why is the Mayor's daughter here all alone?" He asked. She studied him. He looked genuinely interested in hearing about it. She sighed.

"It's stupid, but… I asked Jeremy to the party and he was too busy drooling over Vicki to listen the first time. The second time he flat told me to have fun without him and walked out. Basically, I'm pouting like a five year old." She explained, leaning back and folding her arms across her chest.

"Well, it's understandable, getting rejected. But it's his loss." Stefan told her. She smiled over at him.

"Thanks."

"Of course."

"Hey… Would you dance with me? Just once?" She asked, standing up.

"Uh… I'm not really a dancer…" He mumbled. She frowned and sat down again.

"Oh. Okay." She mumbled back, visibly upset. He felt an instant guilt trip. He sighed.

"One dance. Come on, kiddo." He stood up and offered his hand. She grinned and took his hand. They headed outside to the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he put his hands on her waist.

"Thank you for this." She told him. He nodded.

"No problem." He twirled her around and then brought her back close to him.

"Is your girlfriend going to get jealous?" Cynthia teased half heartedly.

"I doubt it. I'm just doing a favor for a lonely girl."

"I'm not lonely…"

"Really? You seem pretty lonely."

"Family issues, I admit."

"Hey, I know about that first hand."

"Yeah, I heard you had a brother." She said, nodding.

"Not one I like."

"I doubt that you don't like him." She told him. He gave her a confused look and she went on as she twirled again.

"I have an older brother who is a jerk. But you can't hate your brother. It's impossible, no matter how hard you try. You tell them that you hate them, you avoid them, you give them the silent treatment… But you don't hate them. It just doesn't happen." He just stared at her for a minute, thinking about that.

"And your girlfriend is here." He snapped back to reality as she nodded towards Elena, who was at the front door, talking to Mrs. Lockwood.

"Ah…"

"Thanks for the dance, Stefan." She pulled away and left him free to go to Elena. She headed back to her bench and sat down on it. A minute later, Tyler joined her.

"Hey. Where's Vicki?"

"Left."

"Hmm…"

"What's the 'hmm' for?"

"Nothing." She rested her head on his shoulder for a minute and then got up again.

"Where you going?"

"For a walk. I can't stand this party anymore."

* * *

She walked down the sidewalk and found herself at Jeremy's house. She sighed and walked up to the porch. She knocked on the door and then waited. It took a minute, but then Jeremy answered the door.

"Hey, Jeremy, I-." Cynthia said.

"Hey, Jer, who's at the door?" Vicki came to top of the stairs, wearing nothing but one of Jeremy's t-shirts. She saw Cynthia and glared at her.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"Nothing. Never mind." Cynthia turned and hurried off the porch before either one of them could see her crying. He rejected her for _Vicki_. It hurt like a knife to the heart and a dang rusty knife at that.

* * *

She went into the Grill and sat down at a table to cry. It was the Grill; no one judged crying teenage girls here and most wouldn't remember it in the morning anyway.

"Hey, honey." Cynthia looked up at Jenna. Jenna sighed, put her coffee cup down on the table and scooted into the booth next to her.

"You okay? Wow. I'm drunk enough to ask _that_ stupid question. That's why I'm sobering up." She motioned to the cup of coffee.

"I'm fine." Cynthia lied.

"Are you drunk too? Cause you don't look fine." Jenna told her. Cynthia nodded knowingly.

"I'm dealing with teen drama." She admitted. Jenna wrapped her arms around the younger girl's shoulders and hugged her.

"Drama sucks at any age." Jenna assured her.

"So it won't get better?"

"Not really. Life normally just sucks all around." Jenna told her. Cynthia put her head on Jenna's shoulder.

"I just miss when I was a little kid. I was in such a big hurry to grow up, but I didn't know it would be like this." Jenna laughed a little.

"Kiddo, you're not grown up yet. Fifteen is hardly grown up. This is just your… second childhood." Jenna explained. Cynthia sighed.

"Aunt Jenna?" She had called Jenna her 'aunt' since she was a little kid. Jeremy and Elena had rubbed off her at an early age. Jenna had never minded. She considered Cynthia her niece as much as Elena.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Thanks."

"No problem. Why don't I walk you back to your house?"

"I can get back myself. I think you should go home and prepare for your hangover tomorrow morning." Jenna sighed and nodded.

"Good idea. Have a good night." She hugged Cynthia again and then got up. Cynthia got up too and headed out of the Grill.

* * *

When she got back to her house, the party was already over. She headed up to her bedroom. Once she was in her pajamas, she crawled into bed and tried to fall asleep.


	5. You're Undead to Me

**A/N I hope you like this chapter. As always, please review. **

* * *

"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want in your face sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser!" Caroline told a group of students. She headed over to Cynthia as the group dispersed.

"I want to see you there." Caroline told her. Cynthia nodded once.

"I will be there." Cynthia promised.

"Great!" She hurried off to go talk to Stefan. Tyler walked over to Cynthia.

"You're not wearing a bikini tomorrow." He informed her. She rolled her eyes.

"And why not; everyone else will be?" She asked as they headed towards their next class.

"Because I don't have time to beat the crap out of any guy that flirts with you." He told her. She rolled her eyes again.

"What happens when I actually get a boyfriend?" She asked, stopping and turning to look at him.

"It depends on how he treats you. I might get a new friend… I might get a new punching bag." He said with a smirk. He ruffled her hair and then hurried off.

* * *

The next day was the Sexy Suds fund raiser. Cynthia wore a hot pink crop-top and black short-shorts.

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay-ya-later's. We're not running a charity here!" Caroline told her.

"No we are not." Cynthia agreed.

"Good. You can go help Matt and Bonnie with their car." Cynthia obeyed as Caroline went to talk to Elena. As she got over there, Matt threw a sponge at her. It hit her in the face and she let out a little shriek of surprise. Bonnie and Matt laughed.

"You need to learn to catch!" Matt told her, still laughing. She picked up the sponge, dunked it in the bucket of soapy water at her feet and then went to wash the hood of the car.

"I wasn't expecting you to _throw_ it at me!" She shot back a weak defense, scrubbing the hood with more force than necessary.

"Uh-uh. No. None of that tortured pining stuff." Bonnie said. Cynthia looked up at Matt and then over at Elena and Stefan kissing.

"I'm just observing." Matt defended himself.

"Yeah, sure." Cynthia said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, Tiki, this one's yours." Bonnie said to another girl.

"Why do I always get the homely ones? Just to be clear, you're cars a p.o.s. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a p.o.s." Tiki said.

"You don't have to be rude." Bonnie told her.

"Rude is uglying up the road with that junk." Suddenly the hose in the bucket flipped up and sprayed Tiki. She screamed. Matt grabbed the hose and shoved it back in the bucket.

"What the-!"

"Wet and wild, Tiki!" Matt told her, laughing.

* * *

Later, Cynthia was sent for more towels. She was just walking back through the hallway when a boy blocked her path.

"Whew… They really do mean '_Sexy_ Suds', don't they?" He said.

"Yeah, I have to get, back to-." She started to walk around him, but he blocked her path again.

"Your brother isn't here is he?" He asked. Before she could answer, Stefan walked over to them and got between them.

"I think you're needed outside." Stefan said in a 'leave before I make you leave' tone of voice. The boy hesitated, but then walked away. Stefan turned back to Cynthia.

"Thanks." She told him. He nodded once.

"No problem. Where is your brother?"

"Home. He doesn't do fund raisers." She explained. He nodded again and then pulled her gently towards the door back to the parking lot.

"Have you seen Elena?" He asked as she set the towels down on a table. She shook her head.

"No, not since she got here with you and Matt was looking all… Never mind." She shut herself off. Stefan pretended not to notice.

"You think she went home?" Cynthia shrugged.

"Maybe." She admitted.

"Hmm… Thanks." He started to walk away, but Cynthia caught his arm. He turned back to her.

"Hey. Elena's big on trust. Whatever you're holding back, the more you hide it, the more she'll try to figure it out. Not to meddle, but maybe you should come clean with her if you love her that much." She told him.

"Thanks, Cynthia."

"Yeah, anytime."

* * *

When she got home, Mrs. Lockwood met her at the door.

"Where were you?"

"At the fund raiser." She replied, giving her mom a 'are you serious?' look.

"That was today?"

"Yeah. It was." She walked past her mom and up to her bedroom. Her phone rang from her bag and she pulled it out. She saw it was Jeremy and picked it up.

"What?" She asked, skipping all pleasantries.

"_I was wondering if you wanted to hang out_."

"Will Vicki be there?"

"_No… We… uh, we had a fight_."

"Is that why you suddenly remembered me?" There was silence for a minute, which told her all she needed to hear.

"Jeremy… You're my best friend. I love you. But I am no one's second choice." She hung up and put the phone down on her desk.

"Good for you." She whirled around towards Tyler, who was leaning against the doorframe.

"For the record, you could do better than Jeremy anyway." With that said, he left. She collapsed on her bed, wishing all the teen drama would just go away…


	6. Lost Girls

**A/N I'm going to update twice today because I feel that both episodes/chapters are short. **

* * *

Cynthia stood by her locker, replacing her books. Jeremy came over to her. She looked at him suspiciously.

"Hey. Last night, we-."

"I'm not your second choice, Jeremy. Leave me alone." She turned to go, but Jeremy caught her arm and spun her back around. She glared him, thinking about why Tyler would do to Jeremy if he walked around the corner. Or even Stefan at this point.

"Hey, I'm sorry." He told her quietly, letting her arm go. She shot him another look.

"For me being a second choice or for the arm grabbing?"

"Both. Look, why don't you come over after school today? Like old times, huh?" He asked. She looked at him, debating it mentally.

"Fine. Just for a little while." She told him. He grinned as the bell rang, signaling the start of their classes.

"Great. I'll see you later." He hurried off.

* * *

After school, Cynthia told Tyler she was going to Jeremy's house and then walked with him to their house. Once they were there, they headed into the kitchen. Jenna was still at college and Elena was no where to be seen, so they had the house to themselves. And just like old times, they completely raided the kitchen. They grabbed the pop-tarts, potato chips, Gold Fish, soda, ice cream and even snuck out a bag of the Halloween candy Jenna had bought already. Then they headed up to Jeremy's room. After eating almost all the food they'd brought up and playing several rounds of Jeremy's favorite video game, they heard the doorbell.

"I'll get it." Jeremy got up and went downstairs while Cynthia started cleaning up the room. Not that it was ever clean anyway, but she decided not to add on to the mess with some many wrappers and empty containers. After she'd thrown all of them away, she went to the top of the stairs to see who was at the door. She stopped dead when she saw Jeremy and Vicki making out. She went back into Jeremy's room to grab her bag. Once she had that and her jacket, she headed downstairs and for the door. Vicki had already made her way into the kitchen. Jeremy blocked Cynthia's path.

"Look, I'm sorry. She's high." He said quietly as they heard her rummaging through the kitchen.

"And who's the one that supplies her with drugs?" She shot back a little louder than she meant.

"I can hear you! I just need quiet! Shut up!" Vicki moaned from the kitchen.

"Then why don't you go to your own home!" Cynthia suggested angrily.

"Cynthia, can you just call Matt? Tell him what's going on?" Jeremy asked, interrupting any comeback Vicki might have had.

"Do _we_ know what's going on?" She motioned towards Vicki, who had collapsed against the counters, moaning and mumbling something they couldn't hear.

"Just… Just call Matt." He hurried over to try and help Vicki while Cynthia pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Matt's number.

"_Hey, Cynthia, don't tell me your big bad brother is being mean again-_." Matt started cheerfully.

"It's Vicki."

"_What's with Vicki_?" He asked with a sigh that implied he was tired of getting calls that started like that.

"I don't know… She's… She's on something. She's with Jeremy and me at his house… Can you get over here? She's being… well, crazy."

"_Yeah, yeah, I'll be there in a minute._"

* * *

True to his word, not five minutes later, he was knocking on the door. Cynthia opened the door and let him in.

"Where is she?"

"Uh, in here." She shut the door and led him into the kitchen. Vicki had moved to be leaning against the side of the fridge, but was still moaning and mumbling. Cynthia swore that witnessing this was a better deterrent than any 'never do drugs' talk her mom had ever given her.

"What's she on?" Matt asked, looking at Jeremy. Jeremy shook his head.

"I-I don't know."

"Hey, Vicki, how you doing?" Matt asked, kneeling down in front of Vicki. She shook her head.

"Not good, Mattie… I hurt."

"Okay… Where's it hurt?"

"My gums. My jaw hurts. My gums… There's something in my gums and it hurts!" She whined.

"Okay… Well-." He reached out to touch her, but she slapped his hand away.

"No! Just leave me alone!"

"Come on, Vic, don't be like that. Let's get you home." Matt told her calmly. Cynthia felt bad for him; he had obviously had practice in the arts of talking to his druggy sister.

"Just turn it off!"

"Turn what off?!" Cynthia demanded none too nicely. Vicki jumped up and ran to the back of the couch and glared at the TV. The TV was muted. Jeremy went over and turned up the volume to see the news story.

"…_Horribly. Three bodies were found dead in what is believed to be drug deal gone awry. The bodies have yet to be identified. They were discovered earlier today over at the old Mystic Falls cemetery_."

"That's where we were last night." Jeremy said slowly, looking over at Vicki.

"What happened there?" Cynthia directed the question at Jeremy.

"I don't know; I left."

"What happened, Vic?" Matt asked Vicki worriedly.

"_…Homicide and are fast underway looking for suspects. They're asking anyone with information…_"

"I'm calling the cops!" Matt said.

"No, don't!" Vicki cried.

"Hate to agree with her, but she's right. Look at her. Just because of how she is now she'll be booked in jail as a prime suspect and no one else was there to say she didn't do anything!" Cynthia reminded Matt.

"I didn't do anything!" Vicki yelled at her.

"I'm not saying you did but no one can say you didn't!" Cynthia shot back. In one swift movement, Vicki shoved Cynthia back hard enough for Cynthia to hit the back of the couch and then hit the floor.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked her as Jeremy offered her a hand to help her up. She ignored it and pushed herself to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm good." Actually, she felt her day had been far from anything remotely good, but she knew that they had bigger problems right now. She moved the shoulder she'd both hit the couch with and landed on experimentally. It hurt. She grimaced and folded her arm across her chest to cradle it.

"Dang, Vicki!" Matt told his sister, turning back to her in surprise. Vicki was never an exactly nice and generous person, but she had definitely never physically hurt anyone, especially Cynthia. She was the younger girl that always hung out with them, the kid of the group that everyone looked after, no one ever hurt. Just then, Stefan and Elena came into the house.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"She's really messed up." Matt admitted. Stefan gently shoved Elena behind him.

"Elena, back up." He went over to Vicki and looked her in the eye.

"Vicki, look at me. Focus. You're gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be fine." He looked at Jeremy and Matt.

"Guys, take her upstairs to bed. Shut the blinds. She's gonna be okay." Matt and Jeremy took her upstairs to Jeremy's room.

"What do you want me to do?" Cynthia asked.

"Get an ice pack on that shoulder." Stefan told her.

"There's one in the freezer." Elena added. Cynthia nodded and went back into the kitchen. She could hear them whispering in the living room, but couldn't make out the words. She put an ice pack on her shoulder and then went back out into the living room just in time to see Vicki sprint out the front door.

"We need a leash for her." Cynthia's humor fell on deaf ears. Elena turned to her as Stefan and Matt went out after Vicki.

"Maybe you should go home, get some rest." She suggested. Cynthia nodded in agreement. She handed the ice pack to Elena and went back home.


	7. Haunted

**A/N the promised second update**

* * *

Cynthia sat at the Grill with her parents. Tyler was already at the Halloween party at the school.

"How many martinis have you had?" Mr. Lockwood inquired as Mrs. Lockwood sipped her drink.

"Don't start with me."

"Can we go now? We're late for the Halloween party!" Cynthia reminded her.

"So go ahead. I'd like to finish my drink." Cynthia stood up as Mr. Lockwood left and grabbed her red cloak that was part of her Red Riding hood costume. She walked past a table and Damon caught her arm. She gave him a suspicious look.

"I'm Damon Salvatore. From the looks of it, you're Cynthia Lockwood, correct?"

"Yeah… You're Stefan's older brother."

"So he told you about me."

"Nothing good." She yanked her arm back from him.

"I'm hurt and offended."

"Well, I'll tell Stefan I saw you. Bye." She walked out of the Grill. Damon stared after her. _A Lockwood and feisty… I'll use her later_, he thought to himself.

* * *

When Cynthia got to the party, she went over to Tyler, who was in charge of the cider booth.

"Hey, baby sis. Where's your big bad wolf?" He greeted her, eying her costume.

"Not you. You couldn't pass as a werewolf." She teased. He offered her a cup.

"No thanks. I'd prefer not to be hung-over tomorrow morning. Mom's going to be, though."

"Hmm… Lovely." He said sarcastically.

"Well, you have fun here. I want to go check out everything inside." She told him. He nodded.

"Kay, have fun." She walked inside the school, searching for Jeremy. Maybe he was as willing to repair their friendship as he was before Vicki showed up all druggy… Halloween parties used to be their thing, the thing that the two of them did together _every_ _year_. Suddenly Stefan caught her arm.

"Have you seen Jeremy or Vicki?"

"No, I was just going to look for Jeremy. Why?"

"Um… Just stay here, okay?" He hurried off. She hesitated, but then followed, wondering what the heck was going on. She looked around the school, but didn't see him. Then Vick yanked her into the ally and threw her to the ground.

"Ow! Vicki, what is wrong with you?!" Cynthia cried. Just then, Jeremy rushed into the ally.

"Vicki, what are you doing?" He asked, seeing Cynthia on the ground and Vicki towering over her. Vicki spun around and kissed him passionately. Cynthia pushed herself to her feet and headed for the door back into the school. She tripped over a piece of wood and fell, a piece of wire cutting into her hand and making it bleed. Vicki spun around from Jeremy and darted over to her. She grabbed Cynthia and bit into her hand. Cynthia screamed.

"VICKI!" Jeremy yelled. Suddenly she was off of Cynthia. Stefan held her against the nearest bus. Elena helped Cynthia climb to her feet. Vicki squirmed out of Stefan's grip and disappeared.

"Go. Get inside!" Stefan ordered. Elena pushed Cynthia towards the door and grabbed Jeremy's arm. Vicki darted over and pushed Jeremy away and bit into Elena's shoulder. She screamed. Suddenly a stake was thrust through Vicki's heart. She collapsed while Jeremy screamed her name. Stefan held him back. Cynthia stared in shock, not even able to scream. Elena looked between Cynthia and Jeremy.

"Get them out of here."

* * *

Cynthia sat on Jeremy's bed with him. Stefan had taken them home and let them go upstairs to talk. But there was no talking here. Just crying and confusion. Elena came into the room. Cynthia stood up and walked out of the room to let them talk. She met Stefan at the foot of the stairs. She sat down next to him.

"What… What happened?" She asked, hugging her knees to her chest. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"She was going to kill Elena. Maybe even you and Jeremy. I had to do it." He told her.

"But… But she…"

"She was a vampire. You know that." He told her. She just stared at her hands, not sure what to make of all of this. Elena came downstairs.

"Stefan? I need to talk to you." She led him out onto the porch. Cynthia stayed on the bottom stair, crying silently. A minute later, Damon came into the house. Cynthia jumped to her feet.

"Oh come on! We met once. If you're already scared of me, then that's my new record." Damon said, seeing her reaction.

"I'm not _scared_ of you. You're just a creep!" She accused.

"Been called worse." He said with his infamous Damon-smirk.

"Damon…" Stefan said, irritated.

"Right. Time to mess around with her mind." He stepped towards Cynthia, but Cynthia backed away.

"What?!" She looked at Stefan for help. He looked down.

"Look at me." Damon darted forward so he was right in front of her and looked into her eyes.

"You are going to forget everything that happened tonight, everything you saw. You went to the party, you got drunk, you passed out. Vicki is fine, she went out of town, but you don't know where. Now, you're going to go to sleep, okay?" Her eyes closed and she collapsed. He caught her and picked her up, cradling her like a child. He passed her off to Stefan.

"Take her home. I'll go compel Jeremy."

* * *

Stefan laid Cynthia down on her bed and turned to duck out the window before anyone saw him. Before he could leave, Cynthia grabbed his wrist. He turned back to her. She was groggy, but awake again.

"Thanks for bringing me home." She mumbled. He nodded and kneeled down by the side of her bed.

"Of course."

"I think I got drunk…. Which is really weird because I've never gotten drunk before…I don't like not knowing what I'm doing…" She murmured. _Then you must really hate compulsion_, Stefan thought bitterly.

"Well, you should go to sleep." He told her. She nodded and curled up, closing her eyes again. He put the blanket over her and then left.


	8. 162 Candles

**A/N Hope you guys like this chapter**

* * *

Sheriff Forbes was questioning Cynthia about Vicki's disappearance.

"Where did Vicki say she was going?"

"She didn't."

"Any signs of aggression or violence?"

"None that I remember."

"So you believe that Vicki really left town?"

"Yes."

* * *

As Cynthia walked out of the Sheriff's office, she met up with Stefan, who was obviously waiting for Elena.

"Oh, hey, Stefan." She greeted him.

"Hey."

"Thanks for… you know… helping me when I got drunk." She said. She realized this probably wasn't something that she should have said in front of the Sheriff's office. Underage drinking was looked down upon, she was pretty sure. Especially when she was the Mayor's daughter and the whole family was expected to keep up the reputation of being perfect.

"No problem."

* * *

Caroline called her as she sat in her bedroom, reading her favorite book. She put down The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and answered the phone.

"_Come to the Grill_."

"Well hello to you too!" Cynthia said sarcastically.

"_Cyn, I've got a bunch of other calls to make. I'm putting on a quick party at the Grill. I felt like it. Come_."

"Fine, fine. I'll come now."

"_Good girl. I'll see you there_." With that said, Caroline hung up.

* * *

Cynthia walked into the Grill and looked around at the party goers in slight surprise. For a last minute party, she had really worked up a crowd. Cynthia sighed and walked over to the counter to order a coffee. When she turned around to wait for her order, she saw a blonde girl and Stefan dancing. She stared at Stefan. That had to be the first time in a while she'd seen him smile.

"Here you go." She turned back towards the waitress and thanked her, taking her coffee.

* * *

Damon sat at the bar, but got up when he saw the younger Lockwood enter the Grill. He walked over to her and waited until she turned around with her coffee before he stepped up to her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. He gave her his trademark smirk.

"Caroline invited me." He explained. She found that hard to believe, given what she'd gotten from Stefan and Elena about their past relationship.

"Well, un-invite yourself!" She told him. She moved to walk past him, but he stepped in her way again. She shot him a death look. He admired her guts; it wasn't often that he encountered a fifteen year old with such bravery.

"Why? I like it here. You know, I can probably sneak you some shots from the bartender. You seem to like getting drunk at parties." He told her. She scoffed and started to turn away but then stopped and turned back to him.

"How did you know about that?" She asked. She was certain that Stefan was the only one that had known about that. Had Stefan told him? She doubted it. Stefan seemed trustworthy enough…

"I know things." Damon gave her a vague answer. Okay. Now he was really creeping her out. She hurried off.

* * *

Stefan slid into the seat next to her at the table in the corner. She looked up to see who it was and then looked down at the table again.

"What was Damon talking to you about?" He asked her quietly. He hadn't missed the disturbed look on her face as she had walked away from Damon earlier.

"Nothing… He just creeps me out." She explained. There was something off about him; she just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Well, I would tell him to stay away from you, but he'd only try to mess with you more if I did." Stefan told her.

"Hey, I got a jerk of a brother too. Check that." She said.

"Oh my god!" Cynthia's head jerked up at Stefan's shocked gasp.

"What? What?" She looked around but didn't see anything. Stefan quickly recovered himself.

"Nothing. Stay here." He hurried off.

* * *

Later that night, Cynthia sat in her window seat with her diary in her lap.

_Dear Diary,_

_The Salvatore brothers are both mysterious. Stefan's nice, but I can tell he has secrets. Damon's… Damon's a creep. I don't know what it is about him, but there's something weird about him. And not in a 'he secretly has a bunch of bunnies' sort of way, but in an 'I have a clown suit and several bodies in my basement' sort of way. _

_On a different note that seems oddly connected to the Salvatore Brothers, I can't believe I just got drunk and passed out at the Halloween party. I never do that! I'm like the one teenager in town who doesn't drink! It's weird, like Damon-weird! _

_I guess that I'll have to figure all of this out in time. I just hope that I can…_


	9. History Repeating

**A/N two chapters/episodes today because the last one was kind of short**

* * *

In History, they had a new teacher. Cynthia sat in her desk, watching as he wrote his name on the chalkboard.

"Good morning everyone. Alrighty. Alaric Saltzman. It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. However, I was born and raised in Boston. Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce it 'All-A-Ric' but it's 'A-lar-ric', okay? So you can call me Ric. I'm your new history teacher."

* * *

After school that day, Elena caught up to her in the parking lot.

"Tonight you are coming over for a sleepover." She told her.

"I am?"

"You are. My house. Caroline and Bonnie will be there."

"So why are you inviting me?" Cynthia was used to be the younger girl that they only considered a friend, not a best friend. In truth, Elena was inviting her because she felt really bad about Damon's compulsion. Even if Cynthia didn't know she had been compelled, Elena wanted to make it up to her.

"Hey, you're my friend too!" Elena told her in answer to her question.

"Oookay… I'll be there." She promised. Elena grinned.

"Thank you, Cynthia. Just grab some stuff from home and come on over." She told her younger girl. Cynthia nodded.

"Okay. I will."

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Cynthia, Bonnie, Caroline and Elena were preparing dinner, which consisted of popcorn and pizza. There were silent, but that silence was broken by Caroline's loud sigh.

"I'm sorry! There. I said it. If you want the ugly-butt necklace, keep it. It's yours." Caroline told Bonnie.

"What necklace?" Cynthia asked, feeling really out of the loop.

"This necklace that Caroline got from Damon. She gave it to Bonnie." Elena explained to her.

"Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?" Bonnie asked, looking guilty.

"You threw it away?" Caroline asked, annoyed.

"I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares. I had to get rid of it." Bonnie told her.

"You could have just given it back to me!"

"Why? So you could give it back to Damon?" Elena put in.

"Screw Damon!"

"Okay, why don't we take the subject off drama and back onto fun?" Cynthia suggested. Caroline grinned.

"Yes! Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?"

"Mine's in my bag." Bonnie motioned towards her duffel bag on the table. Caroline went over to get it.

"So, Elena… How long are do you think this fight with Stefan if going to last? Is it like a permanent thing?" She asked as she rifled through Bonnie's bag.

"I don't know, Caroline." Elena admitted.

"Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?!" Caroline suddenly cried. Everyone turned towards her in shock at her outburst.

"What?" Bonnie demanded.

"Caroline!" Elena and Cynthia said at the same time. Caroline held up the necklace.

"I'm not lying to you, Caroline! I swear." Bonnie told her.

"It's true. I watched her throw it into a field!" Elena backed her up.

"Then explain it!" Caroline demanded.

"Emily."

"Who?"

"Emily. The ghost that's been haunting me."

"Oh the ghost has a name now?" Caroline asked mockingly.

"Caroline, please." Cynthia told her, not wanting a full out cat-fight during what was supposed to be a fun night.

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone." Bonnie said to Elena.

"What is going on? Why am I not part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time!" Caroline whined.

"That's not true." Elena was quick to reassure her.

"Yes it is. I can't talk to you. You don't listen!" Bonnie disagreed with Elena.

"That's not true!"

"I'm a witch." Bonnie said simply.

"And don't we all know it." Came Caroline's sarcastic response.

"See? That's what I'm talking about! I'm trying to tell you something. You don't even hear it."

"I listen! When do I not listen?"

"Wait, you're actually a witch? Like spells and stuff?" Cynthia asked. Bonnie nodded to her.

"Yeah. My Grams is teaching me." Caroline scoffed and walked into the living room. Bonnie sighed and followed her to talk about it. Cynthia turned to Elena.

"This town is getting weird." Cynthia mumbled. Elena nodded, thinking about how Cynthia didn't know the half of it.

* * *

Later, they had gathered in Elena's bedroom for a séance. Bonnie was still against it, but Caroline had convinced them all to try it.

"What are we doing?" Bonnie asked as the four of them gathered on the floor around a candle. Bonnie had the necklace around her neck.

"I don't know." Elena admitted.

"Be quiet and concentrate. Close your eyes. Now take a deep breath. Bonnie. Call to her." Caroline ordered.

"Emily, you there?"

"Really? 'Emily, you there'? That's all you got? Come on." Caroline told Bonnie.

"Fine, jeez. Emily. I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen." Bonnie said. The candle immediately flared up.

"Did that just…?" Cynthia asked fearfully.

"Yeah. It just happened." Caroline said.

"It was just the air conditioning." Bonnie told them.

"Ask her to show you a sign! Ask her! Fine, I will. Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign." Caroline said loudly. Nothing happened.

"See? It's not working." Bonnie said. Suddenly the window burst open. Cynthia screamed while the others gasped and jumped back.

"I can't! I'm done!" Bonnie jumped up and ripped the necklace off, throwing it to the floor. Suddenly the candles went out.

"Get the light! Please, get the light!" Bonnie pleaded.

"Hold on! I got it!" Elena flipped on the light. Cynthia got to her feet and looked around the room fearfully.

"Okay, I'm done! We're not doing that anymore!"

"You guys, the necklace, it's gone!" Bonnie gasped.

"Okay, fun's over, Caroline. You made a point, I get it. Now give it back." Elena told Caroline.

"What? Well, I didn't take it. Cynthia?" Caroline spun around towards the younger girl, who held up her hands to show they were empty.

"I don't have it!"

"Jeremy, are you home?" Elena asked, having apparently heard something. She walked into the hallway. Bonnie headed slowly towards the bathroom.

"Guys…" As soon as she was in the bathroom, the door slammed shut.

"YOU GUYS OPEN THE DOOR! HELP ME!" She screamed, pounding frantically on the door.

"Bonnie!" The three other girls ran over and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open. Bonnie kept screaming inside.

"Try the other door! I'll try the hallway!" Elena told Cynthia. Cynthia ran into Jeremy's room to try that door into the bathroom. It wouldn't budge.

"Bonnie! Bonnie, open the door!" All three doors swung open. Bonnie stood in the middle of the bathroom, her head in her hands.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Elena asked worriedly.

"I'm fine."

"Unbelievable! You were totally faking it!" Caroline cried.

"Caroline, come on-." Elena started.

"No! Bonnie, you scared me!" Caroline cried.

"Me too! That was some freaky stuff back there!" Cynthia agreed.

"Bonnie?" Elena asked, staring at her with a worried expression.

"I'm fine. Everything's fine." Bonnie rushed out of the bathroom and down the stairs. Caroline, Cynthia and Elena ran after her.

"I can't believe I fell for it!" Caroline yelled.

"Are you okay?" Elena called after Bonnie.

"I must go."

"She's leaving. I'm leaving." Caroline said.

"I want to go home too!" Cynthia agreed.

"You guys can't leave." Elena complained.

"Yes, we can. I've had enough freaking fake witch stuff for one night." Caroline said. Caroline and Cynthia went back into Elena's room to grab their bags. Cynthia slipped her leather jacket over her pajama shorts and tank top and grabbed her duffel bag.

"I'll drive you home." Caroline offered.

"Thank you."

"I've had enough of this crap." Caroline said, shaking her head.

"Agreed." They hurried downstairs and found Elena struggling to open the front door.

"What's happening?" Caroline asked fearfully.

"I don't know. The door, it's not-!" The door burst open and all three girls screamed. Jeremy stepped in, looking really confused.

"What is going on?" He asked, seeing the pale, terrified faces of all three of them.

"I'm outta here!" Caroline ran out the door, following closely by Cynthia.

* * *

After Caroline dropped her off at the Lockwood house, Cynthia hurried inside and up to her bedroom. Tyler poked his head in.

"I thought you were at that sleepover at Elena's?"

"We called it off after an extremely creepy séance." She explained, sitting down on her bed. He came into the room and sat down next to her.

"Aw, did a big bad ghost scare you?" He teased. She shoved his shoulder, but couldn't help but laugh with him.


	10. The Turning Point

**A/N Because this one is short and I'm really excited for you to read the one after this, I'll update two chapters/episodes today. **

**This one is pretty boring, but I hope you guys like it anyway. **

* * *

The career fair was in full swing at the high school. Cynthia ducked through the crowds and made her way over to the art exhibit. There was a giant notebook on the table that Tyler was flipping through. Jeremy walked over to him. She groaned and hurried over to them, prepared to stop any fight they might try to start.

"What do you want?" Tyler asked Jeremy.

"I'm just surprised to see you here. Art usually implies culture and culture implies… Well, not you." Jeremy told him.

"Go to-."

"Tyler!" Cynthia protested. Tyler just walked away. Cynthia turned to Jeremy.

"Okay. You officially win the jerk award of the night." She accused.

"Like Tyler is normally anywhere near art-."

"Jeremy, look!" She pulled him over to the notebook and pointed down at the page. He stared at the drawing.

"And the artist…" She lowered her finger to the name scrawled in the bottom corner. _Tyler Lockwood_.

"Oh." Was all Jeremy could say. She nodded once.

"Yeah. Oh."

* * *

Later, Cynthia finally caught her dad and tugged on his arm.

"Can I show you something?" She asked. He sighed, as if it was a great burden to do so.

"Sure." He agreed, sounding reluctant. She pulled him through the maze of hallways and booths, finally stopping in front of one.

"What do you think?" She asked, motioning towards the booth.

"Counselor? You want to be a counselor?"

"Yeah. I want to help people with _family issues_." She stressed the last two words knowingly. Mayor Lockwood just shook his head.

"I think you need to focus on school, college and getting a job that pays well." He walked away. She stared after him, a little hurt that he didn't support her career decision. Not that him not supporting her was anything new. She walked over to the side of the hallway and flopped down on a chair, wishing she had never come here in the first place.

* * *

Later that night, Cynthia was walking down the hallway when she heard the sounds of a fight. She hurried around the corner to see Tyler and Jeremy going at it. Alaric and Mayor Lockwood broke it up.

"Alright, work it out, tough guy." Alaric told Jeremy.

"You two, follow me." Mayor Lockwood ordered. They reluctantly followed him.

"Excuse me, Mayor, where are you taking them?" Alaric asked. The Mayor turned around to look at Alaric.

"I'm gonna talk to them. All fights should end in handshakes, don't you think?" They left. Cynthia hurried over to Alaric.

"Should I worry about that?" He asked, referring to the Mayor's behavior. Cynthia nodded quickly.

"He is not going to have them shake hands." She told him. Alaric followed the Mayor and Cynthia followed him. When they got out to the back of the school, they saw the Mayor blocking Tyler and Jeremy's path to go back in the school.

"Come on, dad." Tyler was saying.

"That's not gonna happen!" Jeremy added.

"I said fight!" Tyler moved to leave, but Mayor Lockwood pushed him back into Jeremy. Alaric hurried over.

"Whoa. What's going on out here?"

"Just letting these two kids work it out. We're good here. Go back inside." The Mayor told him.

"I don't want to go back inside. What I want is an answer to my question. What's going on out here?" Alaric pressed. Cynthia crept around behind him to stand by Tyler and Jeremy.

"Who do you think you're talking to? Do I look like a student?" The Mayor growled.

"No. You look like a full grown alpha male-." Cynthia gasped at his next choice word, something that no one else would ever have called the Mayor. Beside her, Tyler looked as shocked as she felt and Jeremy was smirking.

"You don't talk to me like that! I can have your job like this!" He snapped his fingers.

"Ah… You do that. Then it'll be you and me in this parking lot working things out. You cool with that?" Alaric asked him.

"You just marked yourself!"

"Okay." Alaric said simply. Tyler and the Mayor walked away.

"You okay?" Alaric asked Jeremy. Jeremy nodded, still barely suppressing a smirk.

* * *

Tyler and Cynthia were leaning up against Matt's truck. He came over to them.

"We need a ride." Tyler told him.

"Sure." Tyler went to the passenger side door.

"Look I like Caroline." Matt said. Tyler stopped and looked at him.

"She's got this thing… This way about her… and I like her, okay? And I'm not going to defend it or apologize about it." Matt went on.

"Okay." Tyler said simply.

"So stop your little bromance jerk act." Matt finished.

"Okay." Matt nodded and opened the driver's side door. Cynthia slid in, sitting down in between Tyler and Matt.


	11. Bloodlines

**A/N This was probably the episode/chapter I had the most fun writing! I really hope you guys enjoy it. Reviews are, as always, appreciated. **

* * *

Cynthia woke up to Tyler shaking her gently. She moaned and rolled over, pulling the covers back over her head. Tyler rolled his eyes and yanked the covers off her. She moaned again and tried to grab them back.

"Tyler!" She complained. He put a finger to his lips and then pointed to the clock on her bedside table. She glanced at it. 5:09 a.m. She smacked him on the arm.

"Why are you waking me up this early?!" She demanded, though she kept her voice low.

"Happy sixteenth birthday." He told her. She grinned and hugged him tightly.

"You remembered!"

"Of course. I'm not dad, Cynthia." He reminded her. He pulled away and then went to her door, pausing to talk to her.

"Get dressed and then meet me outside." He told her. She nodded in agreement. He left the room, closing the door behind him. Cynthia quickly got dressed in a pink summer dress with black and white flowers, black and white high-tops and a black leather jacket. She pulled her hair up in a ponytail and then snuck into the hallway. After a quick check around to make sure that her parents hadn't woken up, she hurried downstairs and out the front door. Tyler met her on the porch. They flopped down on the front steps. Tyler handed her two badly wrapped presents.

"Oooh! I get two. I must be special." She said with a smile, taking the first to unwrap.

"Well, I'm making up for what mom and dad are going to forget to get you." He explained. She ripped off the wrapping paper and pulled out the small box. She opened that and picked up the chain necklace with the silver 'C' hanging from it. She grinned.

"Put it on me?" She asked. He nodded. She turned around and pulled up her hair so he could clip it around her neck.

"Okay, open this one." He handed her the next present. She eagerly unwrapped that one. It held a new long-sleeved green tunic shirt.

"Now we're going wherever you want. I'm your personal chauffer today." Tyler said, getting up and giving a dramatic bow. She laughed.

"Good. We're going to the Grill and you are going to _let me win_ at pool!" She told him.

"I dunno know, Cynthia… I mean, I can't force myself to suck _that_ badly." He joked. She laughed again.

"Okay, let's go." They collected the wrapping paper and gifts and got into Tyler's car, shoving everything into the backseat before Tyler drove them towards the Grill.

* * *

Cynthia let out a whoop as she won at pool. Tyler grinned at her. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"You won." Tyler noted.

"You let me." She reminded him. He shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. What are we doing next?" He asked.

"We're going to the library." She announced, putting the pool stick down. He rolled his eyes.

"Only you want to go to the library for your birthday." He accused. She shrugged.

"I'm a nerdy girl. And mom and dad never take me to the library." She reminded him. He nodded.

"Fine, let's go."

* * *

Cynthia paced down the aisles of the library, running her fingers over the books. She came to the end of the aisle and froze. A few feet away, Jeremy and a black haired girl were sitting together, books surrounding them, laughing. Cynthia turned and went back to Tyler, who was sitting at one of the tables. She flopped down next to him.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

"Jeremy has a new girlfriend." She mumbled.

"If it's not you, that's his problem." He assured her. She nodded once.

"Let's go home. Mom and dad might just realize they haven't seen us all day soon." She said. He nodded in agreement.

* * *

At home, they celebrated Cynthia's birthday with their parents. Cynthia received some clothes that she would never wear and they ate cake. There was a knock on the door. Cynthia jumped up.

"I'll get it." She went to the front door and opened it. Jeremy stood on the other side, smiling at her.

"Hey." She greeted him.

"Can you come out for a second?" She nodded and stepped out onto the porch, pulling the front door shut behind her. Jeremy led her across the yard to a bench. They sat down and then he dug through his backpack.

"I come bearing gifts." He handed her a tub of vanilla ice-cream and two spoons. She smiled and took the tub.

"And this." He handed her a small box. She opened it and pulled out chain necklace with silver heart.

"Looks like Tyler beat me to it, though." Jeremy said, motioning to the necklace she was wearing.

"Well, there are only so many things you can get a small-town teenage girl who hates make-up and most modern music groups." She reminded him. She turned on the bench and he clipped the new necklace on her.

"Thank you, Jeremy." She told him sincerely.

* * *

A few minutes later, they were just finishing off the ice cream tub, though it was mostly melted by the time they got to it.

"I saw you at the library today." Cynthia told him. He looked up at her.

"Really? I didn't see you."

"Yeah… I had the stalker vibe going on… Who was the girl you were with?" She asked.

"Anna. She was helping me research my history paper. Why?"

"Just curious..." She mumbled. They were both silent for a minute before Cynthia spoke again.

"I just don't want to see you get into another Vicki-situation." She admitted.

"Vicki-situation?" He echoed.

"Yeah. She was bad for you and-."

"Well, she left town, so don't worry about her!" He was sounding angry now. Cynthia frowned. The last thing she wanted to do was upset him.

"I'm not worried about Vicki; I'm worried about this new girl-." She started to explain. He scoffed.

"You are worse than Elena, you know that?" He accused.

"Jeremy, I'm just looking out for you-."

"I can take care of myself." He got up and hurried off. She groaned and leaned against the bench. Well, this was a bad end to a great day…

* * *

That night, she was just about to get into bed when her phone rang. She sighed and went over to it to see who was calling her. She recognized Stefan's number. She smiled and answered it.

"Hey!" She greeted him.

"_Hey, birthday girl_." He returned.

"Who told you?"

"_Elena._"

"Ah…"

"_Can you come outside for a second?_"

"Oooh. Do I have an admirer that stands outside my window with a boom-box?" She asked teasingly.

"_Sorry. I left my boom-box at home_." He told her. She hurried downstairs and slid out the front door onto the porch.

"Okay, I'm on my porch."

"_So am I_." She turned to face him as they both hung up their phones. She hurried over to him and hugged him.

"Thanks for coming. Not many people actually remember. Before last summer, Mrs. Gilbert used to take me, Elena and Jeremy out for ice cream, but now…"

"Your parents don't remember?"

"Oh, they did this year. Normally it's a fifty-fifty shot if they remember." She explained, going over to lean against the porch railing.

"Hmm… Well, here." He handed her a small box. She smiled and took it from him.

"You didn't have to get me anything." She told him. He shrugged.

"Don't be silly; it's just something I had lying around." He assured her. She opened the box and pulled out the bracelet inside. It had a small, locket-like charm. It smelled lightly of some kind of herb.

"What kind of herb is on this?" She asked.

"It's called Vervain."

"Oh. It smells good." He took it and slipped it onto her wrist.

"Looks good on you." She smiled.

"Thanks."

"I should go. But happy birthday." He told her.

"Thank you." She hugged him again and then let him walk off the porch. She smiled to herself and went back inside the house.


	12. Unpleasantville

**A/N Hope you guys like this one. I, personally, think you will. Please review!**

* * *

Cynthia walked into the Grill. She saw Jeremy walk past her and out of the Grill. She looked towards where he'd come from and saw the black haired girl, Anna, looking displeased with herself. Cynthia sighed. _Come on, be a good person_, Cynthia told herself. She took a deep breath and walked over to Anna. Anna looked mildly surprised.

"I'm Cynthia Lockwood." She introduced herself, holding out her hand. Anna smiled and shook her hand.

"Anna."

"I heard that you were helping Jeremy with his research paper."

"Yeah. I'm a big history buff… Guess that's why I don't have many friends." Anna explained.

"Oh, being a history buff isn't that bad." Cynthia assured her.

"Tell that to my non-existent friends." They both laughed.

"Well, you've got Jeremy, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm being pushy, I think."

"He's just being cautious. You should hear his dating history."

"Oooh… Bad is it?"

"Last girlfriend was actually my brother's girlfriend too."

"Ouch."

"Yeah…"

* * *

That night, Cynthia dressed up in pink poodle skirt and a white button up blouse for the fifties decade dance. She was mingling with Bonnie and Caroline at the punch bowl with Damon came over to them.

"Hi, Bonnie. Wanna dance?" He asked.

"I'm out of here." Bonnie started to walk away, but Damon blocked her path.

"Please give me another chance?" He asked. Bonnie simply walked away. Caroline glared at Damon.

"Back off, Damon." With that said, Caroline followed Bonnie. Stefan and Elena came over.

"Where did they go?" Elena asked.

"I don't know."

"What did you say to them?" Stefan asked.

"I was perfectly polite. Elena… Would you like to dance?" Damon asked. She smiled.

"I would to." She turned to Stefan.

"May I have this dance?" Stefan smiled and took her arm, leading her onto the dance floor. Damon turned to Cynthia.

"Would _you_ like to dance?" He asked her. She rolled her eyes.

"You can dress up all you want, but you can't cover up the fact that you're a creep." She told him. He rolled his eyes.

"What do you even know about me?" He asked.

"I know you creep me out. That's enough." She turned to go, but he got in front of her.

"One dance?" He asked, smiling sweetly at her.

"Will you leave me alone if I give you one dance?"

"Sure." She groaned and let him lead her out to the dance floor.

Later, Stefan came over.

"Damon, come on."

"Thank gosh!" Cynthia yanked her hands out of Damon's and stalked off. She headed for the punch bowl, but saw Anna and Jeremy talking. _Come on, Cynthia, they are just friends… Why are you even jealous of her?_ She thought to herself. But she couldn't help but frown and walk the other way. She headed out into the hallway. She pulled out her phone to call Tyler to come pick her up, but then she heard Damon and Stefan talking.

"There's no way that idiot was workin' alone." Damon's voice carried over to her.

"You are." Stefan replied. Cynthia crept forward, hiding behind the corner to hear better.

"So the grimoire… That was Emily's right? That's what you need to reverse the spell. When the found families burned her, they took her things and you were hoping that dad's journal would tell you where it is." Stefan went on. Cynthia frowned. _Spell?_

"Look at you putting the pieces together. Good for you. I was half-right. Well, it's out there now. Let the games begin." Damon told him.

"My offer still stands.

"Yeah, with some hidden caveats, no doubt." Damon snapped.

"No. Nothing hidden about it. No lies. No deception. I'm there when you open up that tomb. You and Katherine go. The other twenty six vampires die." Cynthia had to cover her mouth to stifle a gasp. _Vampires?_ She turned and hurried in the opposite direction, ducking around the next corner. Damon darted over her.

"You run loudly." He said, smirking at her.

"I didn't hear anything." She lied.

"Terrible liar, aren't you?" He grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eye.

"Forget everything you heard. Okay?" He compelled her. She nodded once. He smirked again.

"Good. Have a nice night." He walked off. After he had rounded the corner, she pulled up the sleeve of her blouse and stared at the bracelet Stefan had given her. She let out a breath. She was confused, but relieved. She turned and ran.

* * *

**A/N So Cynthia just found out about the supernatural world! Originally, she wasn't going to find out until the season finale, but I changed my mind and wanted to get her in on the action early. **

**Also, she and Anna won't be best friends exactly, but they will be friends for a while. **


	13. Children of the Damned

**A/N This is kind of a boring episode, but the next one will be much more exciting, I promise!**

* * *

"Mom! I'm going to Jeremy's!" Cynthia called as she headed for the door. She heard a muffled 'okay' from her mom in the next room. She looked towards the living room, where Tyler was watching TV. She hadn't told him about anything she'd heard that night at the dance. She wasn't even sure what she had heard. She hurried out the front door, pulling it shut behind her.

* * *

She knocked on the door of the Gilbert house and waited. Damon opened the door. She kept the surprise off her face; she had always been told that, while she was a horrible liar, she had a great poker face.

"Ah… You're here for dinner. So am I. Come on in." Damon stepped out of her way. She gave him a sarcastic smile.

"Thanks, but you're still a creep." She said, since that was what she would have said before. He smirked and shut the door behind her, obviously not aware anything was wrong. She let out a low breath and hurried into the kitchen.

* * *

Later that night, she sat on the couch with Jenna.

"You seem upset." Jenna noted.

"I'm not."

"Liar."

"Fine… Family drama." Jenna looked at her, seeing straight through that.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom." Cynthia got up and headed upstairs. She locked herself in the bathroom and leaned against the sink. She raised her eyes to see herself in the mirror.

"Come on, Cyn; stop acting like a nut-case." She told herself firmly. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then ventured back downstairs. She paused around the corner to the kitchen when she heard Damon whispering.

"Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way. That Lockwood girl has already caused me to compel her _twice_. It would be so much simpler to just-." She heard him snap his fingers. "-with her neck."

"_Damon!_" Elena hissed.

"Just a warning…"

"Twice?" She asked, lowering her voice even more.

"She heard Stefan and me talking at the dance. I had to compel the little gremlin before she ran and told everyone about vampires." Cynthia walked into the room and at once, Damon and Elena went back to setting the table.

* * *

Later, Elena, Jenna and Cynthia were washing dishes.

"He is ridiculously hot!" Jenna whispered, referring to Damon.

"Shh!" Elena told her.

"He's a creep. You can do better, Aunt Jenna." Cynthia added. Elena gave Cynthia's back a sympathetic look. She hated that the girl had been compelled so much already. Then Elena saw the bracelet looped around Cynthia's wrist. It looked like something that would have Vervain in it.

"That's a pretty bracelet." Elena told her, motioning towards it. Cynthia looked down at it.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Thanks."

"Was that a birthday present?" Elena pressed.

"Yeah. From Stefan." Cynthia told her, nodding and then going to put away some of the washed bowls. Elena looked towards Damon, where he was playing a video game with Jeremy. Then the doorbell rang.

"That's Stefan." She went to answer the door.

* * *

After Damon, Stefan, Elena and Jeremy all left, Jenna and Cynthia were on the couch, watching TV.

"I miss this." Cynthia murmured.

"Well, I am pretty awesome." Jenna joked. They both laughed. Cynthia rested her head on Jenna's shoulder.

"I like this family better than mine sometimes."

"Hmm… Well, we're family to you too." She reminded Cynthia, hugging her.

"Thanks, Aunt Jenna." Behind them, Elena and Stefan came in. Elena went upstairs, holding her head. Stefan glanced at Cynthia and Jenna and then followed, seeing as they hadn't noticed they'd come in. Cynthia turned as he headed up the stairs. Jenna turned to.

"Stefan and Elena back?"

"Yep." Cynthia replied.

"How long until we're talking about your boyfriend?" Jenna asked, smirking at Cynthia, who rolled her eyes.

"I don't know." She admitted after a minute of silence, frowning.

"Oh come on. Anyone would be lucky to date you." Jenna told her.

"Tell that to the men of the world." They both laughed again. Then Cynthia got up.

"I've got to go talk to Elena." She got up and hurried upstairs, passing Stefan as he went back down to the kitchen. She headed into Elena's bedroom. Elena was lying on her bed, but she sat up when Cynthia came into the room.

"Oh, hey, Cynthia. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Shoot." Elena said, patting the bed beside her. Cynthia sat down and started fiddling with her bracelet.

"I know about vampires and I know that you know too!" Cynthia told her all in one breath, more than ready to get those words out. Elena struggled to keep the shock off her face. Then she remembered their earlier conversation about Cynthia's bracelet.

"You… Damon didn't take the bracelet off you when he tried to compel you…" She mumbled, shaking her head.

"You knew… Why didn't you tell me?"

"Cynthia, not even Jenna and Jeremy know. It was for the best." Elena told her. Cynthia nodded once.

"But Stefan and Damon are around me so often. You should have told me!"

"I know…"

"Well, this is heartfelt." Elena and Cynthia both jumped up as Anna entered the room.

"You're Anna, right?" Elena asked. She nodded.

"And you're too useful to pass up." She darted forward, grabbed Elena and Cynthia and darted off.


	14. Fool Me Once

**A/N This is a longer episode than last time. Hope you guys like it. Please review as always**

* * *

Cynthia woke up to Elena shaking her. As soon as she opened her eyes, Elena clamped her hand over Cynthia's mouth. She put a finger to her lips. Cynthia remembered what had happened the night before and nodded once. Elena motioned towards the front door of the motel room. Cynthia and Elena crept out of the bed and looked at the vampire sleeping on the chair in between the two beds. Elena slowly stepped over his outstretched leg, motioning for the younger girl to follow her. Cynthia followed and they hurried to the door. Elena unlocked the deadbolt while Cynthia kept an eye on Ben. Elena opened the door and nudged Cynthia towards it, wanting her to get out first. Then Ben darted over to them and shut the door again.

"I wouldn't." He warned. He compelled both of them.

"Don't try to escape. Don't even move. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Cynthia and Elena said in unison, nodding. Ben scoffed and turned towards the mini fridge. Elena opened the front door and both girls bolted out. Anna grabbed them by their arms and pushed them back into the motel room.

"Seriously?!" She demanded of Ben.

"I told them not to move! I did that eye thing that you taught me!" Ben told her.

"And forget the lesson about Vervain. They run with vampires, Ben! Duh!" Anna opened the bathroom door.

"What do you want?!" Elena asked.

"Does it matter?" She forcefully shoved both girls into the bathroom and shut the door. Cynthia searched the wall until she found a light switch. She flicked it on.

"Bonnie?!" Elena ran over to the bathtub, where Bonnie was lying unconscious. Cynthia kneeled down next to Elena.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Uh… Get a washcloth and wet it." She ordered. Cynthia ran to get a washcloth from under the sink and wet it with lukewarm water. She handed it to Elena, who placed it on Bonnie's forehead. Bonnie opened her eyes.

"Bonnie?" Elena asked worriedly.

"Elena?"

"You're okay!" Elena gasped in relief.

"My head…" Bonnie moaned.

"Come here." Elena pulled Bonnie upright.

"Oh my gosh! Ben is a-…." She trailed off, looking at Cynthia.

"Cynthia knows. Now shhh!" Elena gestured at her ear and then pointed towards the door.

"They can hear." She whispered. She got up and turned on the sink to drown out their talking. Bonnie sat on the edge of the bathtub and Elena and Cynthia sat on either side of her.

"I'm so stupid!" Bonnie moaned.

"Hey, I'm obviously not one that's able to tell vampires from humans." Cynthia comforted her.

"What's going on? Why are we here?" Bonnie asked.

"It must have something to do with the tomb and Emily's spell book." Elena explained.

"Spell book?" Bonnie asked.

"Damon said it could be used to open the tomb." Elena told her.

"Why didn't I know about any of this?" Cynthia asked.

"I was trying to keep you out of this!" Elena told her.

"Why?"

"It's dangerous. I was hoping it would never come to this." She motioned at Bonnie.

"Come to what?" Bonnie asked her hesitantly.

"They need a witch to break the spell and let the vampires out."

"No way!"

"I know…"

"Wait, there is some old tomb with vampires in it and a witch can break them out?" Cynthia asked, trying to understand all of this. Elena nodded to her.

"Look, no offense, but you are of no use to them, Cynthia. Which means either they'll let you go or…" Elena trailed off.

"Or I'll be dinner." Cynthia finished, paling at the thought. Ben burst through the door. Elena jumped up, putting herself between Ben and the two other girls.

"You're wasting your time. I'm not gonna help you!" Bonnie told him, standing up as well. Cynthia stood beside her. Ben grabbed Elena and pushed her towards the door.

"That's why she's here. Motivation for you to behave. You know, you shouldn't be so desperate, Bonnie. You made it too easy."

"She wants to talk to you." He shoved her out into the motel room and shut the door, leaning against it and smirking at Bonnie and Cynthia.

"You know, I remember when you were this cute little kid tagging along behind your brother. How did you get caught up in all of this?" Ben asked Cynthia. He obviously wasn't expecting an answer because he went on.

"It's sad really, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time… But I do enjoy fresh snacks." He grinned at Cynthia. Cynthia backed up as much as she could and Bonnie stood protectively next to her.

* * *

Anna knocked on the door to the bathroom after what seemed like an eternity when they were stuck with Ben.

"I'm leaving!" She said through the door. Ben opened it and shoved Bonnie and Cynthia out before he walked out himself.

"Keep them buttoned down. Compulsion won't work. Just use violence." Anna reminded him.

"Right. I got that." He agreed. Anna left. Ben pushed Bonnie and Cynthia onto the bed next to Elena.

"Sit. Behave." He ordered them. He looked at Bonnie.

"So you're the key to this. Literally. The one who opens the door. Tell me, how long have you been a witch?" Bonnie didn't answer.

"Is there anything to drink here?" Elena asked. Ben grinned at Elena.

"Are you offering? There's water on the nightstand." He told her. Elena picked up the glass.

"Hey. Can I have a sip?" Bonnie asked, giving Elena a meaningful look. Elena handed over the glass. Bonnie tossed the water on Ben and they erupted into flames. Ben yelled out in pain and patted the flames down on his arm. Elena, Bonnie and Cynthia ran for the door. Elena and Bonnie got out but Ben grabbed Cynthia in a choke-hold.

"Come back in! Shut the door!" He ordered them. Bonnie and Elena came back into the room.

"Don't hurt her!" Elena told him. He let his fangs come out.

"Don't make me!" Bonnie shut the door behind them.

"Lock it!" He ordered. Bonnie locked the door. Ben tightened his grip on Cynthia.

"Don't! We're back inside!" Elena reminded him.

"Yeah… But she's useless… I'm hungry… It fits together, you see." He was about to bite down on her neck when the door was kicked open. Ben screamed as sunlight started to burn his skin and let Cynthia go. Stefan ripped open the curtains. Ben crawled between the two beds.

"Stefan!" Elena gasped in shock as Bonnie hugged the younger girl.

"Get outside!" He told them. They dashed out the door. A minute later, Stefan joined them.

"Okay, let's go." He took Elena's hand and led her away from the motel room with Bonnie and Cynthia right behind them. They walked over to Stefan's car.

"I'll drive you both home-." He started, turning to Bonnie and Cynthia.

"No! I mean… Tyler will know something's wrong and I can't tell him…" Cynthia told him. He nodded understandingly.

"Do you want to do to Jeremy?" Elena asked her. She was definitely closest to Tyler, but Jeremy was a close second. Cynthia hesitated but then nodded.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Cynthia sat with Jeremy as he sketched in a notebook.

"Why don't you come to that party tonight?" He asked her. She looked up at him.

"What party?"

"Duke's party."

"Oh… That one."

"So… You coming?"

"Sure. Yeah." She agreed, nodding too hard and too fast to be casual. Jeremy gave her a suspicious look.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine."

"Really? Because you're acting weird."

"Weird? I'm not acting weird."

"Yes you are."

"Jeremy… Are you still my best friend?"

"Of course." He told her, confused and offended that she doubted it.

"Then can I have a hug with no question asked, just because I just need one right now?"

"Yeah. I can do that. Come here." They hugged. He smoothed down her hair, resting his chin on her head.

* * *

At Duke's party in the woods, Tyler caught her arm and pulled her off to the side, away from everyone else.

"Hey. You didn't come home last night and I haven't seen you all day." He told her, suspicious. She lied quickly and hoped it was believable.

"I crashed at Elena's last night and then I spent the day with Bonnie at her house. Sorry. I should have called, I know." She told him.

"I'm not your dad, Cynthia, you don't have to call me, but still, I was getting worried."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry." She apologized again. He gave her another suspicious look. She ducked her head, hating that he could see through her lies like that.

"Okay… Well, I'll be around if you need me." He walked off. She let out a breath of relief as he left. She turned around and jumped back when Ben was right behind her.

"Miss me?" He asked, smirking at her. She glanced around. She saw Tyler only a few yards away.

"Don't even think about calling out to him. I'd kill them so fast there wouldn't even be witnesses!" Ben whispered, leaning closer to her. Then he wrapped his arm around her waist and turned her around to see Caroline and Matt.

"And them…" He whispered, his lips brushing against her ear. He motioned towards Jeremy.

"And him. Do you see what's going to happen if you do anything?" She nodded ever slightly.

"Good. Walk with me." He led her away from the party. Once they were a good distance away, he grabbed her arm roughly and yanked her forward. They stood next to the entrance to the tomb. Stefan walked up. Ben placed Cynthia in front of him, locking his arms around her.

"Dark down there?" Ben asked. Stefan straightened up from where he was kneeling down next to gasoline cans.

"Thought I told you to leave."

"I considered it. Then I thought, screw you." Ben told him.

"Hey, Hero." Stefan turned around to face Anna.

"I'm going down there to get my mother."

"I can't let you do that." Stefan told her.

"Well, Ben's about to make a main course out of the Lockwood girl. So you stop me or him. Your choice." Anna vamp-sped into the tomb. Stefan turned to Ben again. Ben ran his fingers over Cynthia's neck. She struggled feebly to get away from him.

"Do you really think that she cares about you? You're disposable!" Stefan told him.

"I don't care. She already gave me what I want."

"Are you going to say 'eternal life'? Are you really that stupid?" Stefan asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. But I am hungry." He leaned down to bite Cynthia's neck. Stefan darted forward and shoved him off her. She fell forward, her head hitting a rock and knocking her out. Once Stefan had set Ben on fire and killed him, he ran over to her. Once he was convinced that she was just unconscious and would wake up soon, he hurried down into the tomb.

* * *

A couple minutes later, Stefan and Elena came out of the tomb. They kneeled down to Cynthia.

"She's okay." Stefan assured Elena. Elena saw Damon and got up to go over to him. Stefan looked down at Cynthia again. She moaned as she woke up. She blinked a couple times before she focused on Stefan.

"Ow." She complained. He helped her sit up. She held her head.

"Am I bleeding?" She moaned.

"No."

"Good… Can you take me to Tyler? Say I got drunk?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, come here." She wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. Stefan carried her back to the party and over to Tyler.

"What happened?" He asked, instantly worried.

"She just got drunk. Passed out. She'll be fine." Stefan lied smoothly. Tyler nodded once.

"I'll take her home." He said, taking her from Stefan. Cynthia moaned quietly and buried her face in Tyler's chest. He carried her towards his car.

"Dang, Cynthia, you're out of it." He noted. She mumbled a response.

"Huh?" He asked. She raised her head.

"I said I know." She told him. He set her on her feet by his car and she leaned against the car while he opened the passenger side door. She half fell into the seat. Once she was in, he shut the door behind her and went around to get in the driver's seat.

* * *

When they got home, he carried her inside. Luckily, neither one of their parents were home. He carried her upstairs.

"I can go from here, Tyler. I'm drunk, not an invalid." Cynthia told him, barely catching herself from saying something other than 'drunk' He hesitated but then set her down. She went into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. Too lazy to get out of her clothes, she climbed into bed fully dressed and fell asleep again.


	15. A Few Good Men

**A/N Hope you guys like it. Please review. **

* * *

Carol Lockwood stood on the stage, introducing the Fundraiser.

"Tickets for the raffle are now on sale. All proceeds benefit the annual Founder's Day celebration." Cynthia stood with Elena, Caroline and Matt.

"He's already been hit on, like, thirty-five times. He's total cougar bait." Caroline was telling them.

"Impressive." Elena amended.

"More like embarrassing…." Matt mumbled.

"Hi, Mrs. Donovan!" Caroline suddenly said. Cynthia turned as Kelly Donovan walked over to them. Kelly glanced at Caroline with distaste and looked at Elena.

"Elena, honey!"

"Hi, Kelly." They exchanged hugs.

"Long time, no see!" Kelly told her.

"How are you doing?"

"Oh, same old. Matty tells me you broke his heart."

"Mom!" Matt protested.

"Just kidding, calm down. He found his rebound girl." She said casually, looking over at Caroline.

"Oh, here you go, sweetheart. However many that'll buy." Kelly handed her some money.

"I just hope I don't get Bachelor Three. I dated him in highschool. Not impressive. In any way." Kelly said. Matt shook his head, embarrassed. Caroline handed Kelly her tickets.

"Very exciting." Kelly walked off.

"I don't get this raffle thing." Cynthia said, shaking her head.

"It's fun." Caroline told her.

"No, it's not. Men are selling themselves for a date. It's weird." Cynthia insisted.

"Well, it's for a good cause." Elena reminded her.

"Still. Weird." Cynthia said. Elena, Caroline and Matt smiled and then turned to the stage where Carol was introducing the bachelors.

"And what do you do, Bachelor Number Three?"

"Yeah, I'm a plumber."

"Well, isn't that wonderful? We could always use more plumbers." Elena, Cynthia, Caroline and Matt fought to hold back laughs.

"Moving on. Number Four, Alaric Saltzman. Wow. That's quite a mouthful. What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High."

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies. This one's a keeper. What do you teach?"

"History."

"History. Oh, well, give us a fun fact about MysticFalls, something crazy."

"Uh, well…"

"He's probably saving the best stories for his date." She moved down the line.

"And last but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card."

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?"

"Oh, yeah. L.A, New York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric? Yeah, cause I know your wife did. I had a drink with her once. she was a great girl. I ever tell you that? Cause she was… delicious." Cynthia had the horrible feeling that he had drank her blood. Elena's mouth popped open, her eyes filling with tears.

"Are you okay?" Cynthia whispered, not wanting Matt or Caroline to hear.

"I just need some air." She rushed out of the Grill and Cynthia followed her. Stefan was right behind them and the three of them stood on the curb.

"Elena-." Stefan started.

"He killed her? Damon was the vampire that killed her?"

"Killed who? Alaric's wife?" Cynthia asked.

"Cynthia, I'm adopted. That was my biological mother." Cynthia's mouth popped open and she struggled to close it again.

"I don't know what happened. Alaric said that they never found the body." Stefan told Elena.

"Oh my god… Stefan!"

"I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you. But I just… I wanted to know more."

"I was feeling sorry for him! Hoping that this whole Katherine thing would change him! I'm so stupid!"

"He doesn't know about the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge…"

"Why are you protecting him?!" Cynthia demanded, finally working through the shock.

"Because Elena isn't the only one hoping he might actually change." Stefan told her. He and Cynthia stared at each other for a second before Elena broke the silence.

"That man…" Stefan and Cynthia turned to look at the man across the street, watching them.

"I saw that man outside of Trudie's…" Elena told them.

"Get back inside. Come on." Stefan told them. He gently pushed both girls back inside and then followed them. Elena held onto Cynthia's arm.

"Stay close to me?" Elena was on edge and hated being alone, but she knew that Stefan was going to go talk to Damon.

"Sure." Cynthia agreed, nodding. Elena started forward and accidentally bumped into Damon.

"Whoa. Easy there. Buy a ticket like everyone else."

"Did you enjoy that?! Rubbing it in to Alaric?!" Elena demanded, pulling her hand out of Cynthia's and pointing an accusing finger at Damon.

"What?" Cynthia slid past Damon and went to tug on Stefan's arm.

"Damon/Elena alert." She whispered. Stefan hurried back over to them with Cynthia right behind him.

"Elena-." Stefan started to warn her, but settled for just shaking his head at her. Damon looked between the two.

"Am I missing something here?"

"Did I forget to mention earlier when we were talking about my birth mother? The one that gave me up? Her name was Isobel." Damon's smug expression faltered.

"Go ahead. Reminisce about how you killed her!" Elena rammed into Damon's shoulder as she walked past him. Stefan and Damon exchanged looks and then Stefan left to follow Elena. Damon quickly regained his composure.

"Oh, don't give me that judgy look." He told Cynthia.

"Judgy look? No, this isn't a 'judgy' look. This is an 'everyone hates you and for good reason' look." She corrected him. She stalked off.

"Well, no one can say you're not honest!"


	16. There Goes the Neighborhood

**.**

* * *

Cynthia was sprawled out on her bed, ear-phones in, MP.3 playing loud and homework in front of her. Her mom knocked on the door and then entered.

"Cynthia? Cynthia!" Cynthia jumped and pulled out her ear-phones before turning to look at her.

"Huh?" Her mom came into the room and pulled Cynthia's desk chair out to sit down on before she spoke.

"The Miss Mystic Falls pageant is coming up."

"I'm aware."

"I want to you to be in it." Cynthia frowned. She hated parties, especially the Miss Mystic Falls parties.

"Why?" She asked, looking up at her mom again.

"Because it's a big thing for teenage girls in this town. I competed when I was your age. I didn't win, but…" She trailed off. Cynthia suppressed a groan. So that was what this was. She wanted her daughter to do what she didn't have the chance to do.

"If I say yes, can I do it my own way?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I pick out the dress, I pick out my partner and you just sit on the sidelines and watch." Cynthia told her. Her mom nodded.

"Okay, then I'll do it. But right now, I think I'm going to head over to Jeremy's." She added, standing up and pulling on her jacket.

"Okay. But it's after dark, so be careful."

"Always."

* * *

She headed up to Jeremy's porch and knocked on the door, bouncing on her heels as she waited. Jeremy opened the door. She smiled.

"Hey, I could use some best friend time." She told him. He opened his mouth to say something but then Anna popped into view.

"Who's at the door?" Cynthia wanted to jump inside, grab her by the neck and throttle her. _Anna _was here? The same Anna that captured her and almost killed her, not once, but twice!

"Oh." Anna said, seeing who it was. Cynthia glared at her, but said nothing, but only because Jeremy was right there.

"I need to talk to her for a second." Anna brushed past Jeremy, grabbing the doorknob and pulling the door shut as she stepped out onto the porch. Cynthia took a step back wearily, not sure what to think of Anna at the moment. Anna sighed.

"I only did what I did because my mother was in that tomb, Cynthia!" Anna explained. Cynthia folded her arms across her chest.

"Yeah? And by 'what you did' you mean almost had me killed? Twice?!" Cynthia struggled to keep her voice low, since Jeremy was right inside.

"I had told Ben not to kill you!"

"The first time or the second time? Because both times, he seemed pretty convinced it was okay to snack on me!"

"I made a mistake, Cynthia! But what would you have done?! If it was your family in that tomb, suffering for over a century and that was your only way in? What would you have done if it was your dashing older brother stuck there and you were his only hope?!" That statement hit Cynthia like a brick and she looked down at her feet. Anna nodded once, knowingly.

"But… I'm sorry." Anna told her sincerely. Cynthia raised her eyes to meet Anna's again. Both her voice and her eyes were full of sincerity.

"I was almost a snack." Cynthia reminded her.

"I'm sorry." Another sincere apology. Cynthia had to look down again. Anna reached out to touch her shoulder.

"Can we still be friends? I promise that I won't hurt you."

"If you have to make that promise-." Cynthia started.

"Cynthia, please?" Anna interrupted. Cynthia sighed.

"Friends. Not best friends, mind you! But friends." Anna smiled widely.

"Thank you."

"Come on, Jeremy's waiting for us." Cynthia added, nodding towards the door. Anna nodded and let her hand fall.

"Right. Let's go in." They walked inside the house.

* * *

Later, they were making sandwiches before another round of video games.

"Alright. Roast beef, turkey, what do you want?" Jeremy asked, searching through the fridge.

"Let's do the works. Pile it high." Anna told him.

"I think how you think. Grab the bread for me?"

"Okay." She went to the counter by the sink to grab the bread while Cynthia went to the cabinet for plates. Behind her, Jeremy purposely cut his hand with a knife. Anna tensed.

"What are you doing?" Cynthia turned to look at Jeremy as Anna said it.

"It's just a cut. Can you hand me that towel?" Anna backed herself against the counter.

"I can't…"

"You've got a problem with blood, Anna?" Jeremy asked, stepping towards her with his bloodied hand. Cynthia rushed to get in between them.

"Uh, here!" She grabbed a towel and handed it to Jeremy, shooting Anna a warning look.

"It's just blood, Anna…" Jeremy went on, throwing the towel aside and giving Anna a challenging look. Anna grabbed him by the neck and shoved him against the fridge.

"What are you doing?" Anna growled.

"Anna, don't!" Cynthia protested. Her face changed so her eyes were covered in veins and her fangs came out.

"I knew it…" Jeremy gasped. The front door opened. Cynthia jumped out of the kitchen to see Jenna entering, stumbling a bit.

"Hey, Aunt Jenna, what's up?" Cynthia asked, forcing her voice to be casual.

"Regret. Make sure Jeremy locks that up." Jenna motioned towards the front door and then headed upstairs. Cynthia stepped back into the kitchen.

"Where's Anna?" She asked, looking around.

"She's gone."

"Why would you do that, Jeremy? She's a vamp-." Cynthia stopped, her eyes widening at what she had been about to say. Jeremy stared at her.

"You knew?!" He demanded.

"I-."

"You know?! How long?!"

"Since the decades dance…" She whispered.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"I wanted to keep you out of it!"

"Who else knows?!" She didn't answer. He just shook his head and wrapped his hand in a towel.

"I can't believe you…" He told her.

"I won't tell anyone that you know for your sake." She told him. She didn't want anyone compelling the knowledge out of him, like Damon had tried to do with her.

"But you see how you handle knowing everything!" She hissed. She hurried out of the house.


	17. Let The Right One In

**A/N Hey, sorry I haven't updated in a while! I hope you guys like this chapter. Please review as always. Because this chapter is short, I'll update again. **

* * *

Tyler, Cynthia and Mr. Lockwood walked into the Grill. Cynthia pulled off her hood and ran a hand through her ruffled hair. Anna and her mom were just going to leave.

"Hey, you're not going out in that, are ya? The roads are dangerous. Route five is completely flooded." Mr. Lockwood told Pearl.

"We'll make do."

"Mayor Lockwood, your table is ready." A waitress said as she passed by them.

"Mayor… Lockwood, is it? I suppose it is treacherous outside. My name is Pearl."

"Hi."

"This is my daughter, Anna. We just recently moved to town."

"Welcome. Richard Lockwood. This is my son, Tyler, and my daughter, Cynthia. Please, join us."

"It would be a pleasure." Pearl and Anna headed over to the table Mayor Lockwood indicated.

"Be more creepy, dad. Not like your kids are standing right here." Tyler told him.

"Grow up. Elections are coming. She's a constituent. And a rich one from the looks of it."

"You can tell all that by looking at her butt. Awesome." Cynthia said sarcastically.

"We're gonna go shoot some pool." Tyler and Cynthia walked off.

* * *

Later, Cynthia, Tyler and Matt were standing around the pool table.

"Guy's not even subtle about it…" Tyler said, shaking his head as he watched Mayor Lockwood and Pearl.

"Who is that?" Matt asked.

"Not our mom…" Cynthia told him dryly.

* * *

Later, it was just Tyler and Cynthia at the pool table. Mayor Lockwood walked over to them, still on the phone.

"Alright, give me ten minutes. And keep it out of the news till I get there." He hung up and looked at Tyler and Cynthia.

"Grab your stuff. We gotta go. Someone found Vicki Donovan."

"Are you serious? Where was she?" Tyler asked excitedly.

"Storm unearthed a shallow grave off county road. They just brought her body down to the morgue."

"Wait… She's dead?"

"Come on, we gotta go." Mayor Lockwood hurried out of the Grill. Cynthia and Tyler hurried to collect their stuff.

"Tyler, I'm sorry." Cynthia told him.

"Yeah… Let's go." He took her arm and they hurried out after their dad.

* * *

Later, they sat in Matt's house. Sheriff Forbes were comforting Kelly Donovan, who had found the body. Matt and Caroline, who had found the body, were in his bedroom. Cynthia sat with Jeremy and Tyler, not sure what to say. So she didn't say anything. She alternated between resting her head on Jeremy's shoulder and Tyler's. Jeremy got up and went outside. Cynthia hesitated, but then got up and followed him.

"Jeremy? Jeremy!" She jogged down the steps to catch up to him at the curb. He turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry about Vicki." She told him, stopping in front of him.

"I thought she had just left town… I… I know she said she was leaving town." Cynthia frowned.

"Yeah, I… I remember her saying it, but I don't remember anything else about it…" She agreed.

"I'm… I'm going home." He started to walk off.

"Do you want me to come with-?"

"I'm good." He interrupted. He walked off. Tyler came out to join Cynthia.

"We should head home." He told her.

"Yeah, okay."


	18. Miss Mystic Falls

**.**

* * *

"Okay, this week we're gonna set outside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founder's Day. Apparently the community leaders feel it's more important than World War 2, but hey what do I know?" Alaric was saying. Bonnie came into the classroom.

"Sorry I'm late."

"Well, it looks like we will be at full occupancy today. Welcome home, Bonnie."

* * *

Later in the gym, Carol Lockwood was teaching the Miss Mystic Falls pageant contestants the formal dance.

"Honor your partner. Stay focus, right hand around. Flirt with your eyes. Left hand around." She ordered. Cynthia looked at Tyler, who was her partner since she didn't have a boyfriend.

"Let's skip the flirting part." He said. They both laughed.

* * *

The next day, Cynthia was sitting on a stool while trying to fix up her hair. Anna poked her head into the room.

"Need help?"

"Please!" Cynthia begged. They both laughed at how desperate she sounded. Anna came in and took the curling iron from her.

"Okay, so I might burn your hair off. Fair warning." They both laughed again as Anna got to work curling Cynthia's hair.

"Thank you." Cynthia told her sincerely. Anna made quick work of her hair and then set the curling iron down.

"Um… Okay. Does that look right?" Cynthia looked in the mirror.

"Yeah, looks good. Thank you."

"Hey, we are friends. Where's your mom?" Anna asked, digging absently through Cynthia's make-up.

"She's busy outside. She's the one that told me I should sign up and now she's not even here for me." Anna gave her a sympathetic look.

"You're preaching to the choir. My mom's not exactly doing any a-plus parenting…" Anna told her. She picked up Cynthia's eye-shadow.

"You know, I can do a mean smokey eye." She offered.

"By mean do you mean good or mean as in mean to anyone who sees my face?" Cynthia asked teasingly. Anna shot her a half hearted death look.

"Sit back and sit still!"

* * *

After Anna had finished up on Cynthia's make-up, Cynthia stood up and grabbed her dress from the hook by the door. It was a strapless dark purple dress that went down to her ankles.

"I'll be waiting downstairs." Anna told her.

"Thanks for the help."

"Anytime." Anna hurried off while Cynthia got dressed. She also pulled on her beaded white sandals with straps that went up her legs. Once she was in her dress and shoes, she headed out into the hallway. Stefan was there and she saw him punch the wall.

"Stefan, are you okay?" She asked, going over to him. He could hear her heartbeat, pumping blood through her veins. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. Then he snapped. He went over to her with vampire speed and took her to the far parking lot. She gasped, disorientated.

"What was that for?" She asked, looking at Stefan. He was shaking his head, looking absolutely crazed.

"I don't know." He told her. She slowly backed away. _He's lost it. I need to get Damon, he can handle Stefan_, she thought. Stefan spun around and then vamp-sped behind her, shoving her backwards.

"This is going to hurt me a lot more than he's going to hurt you." He told her. She tensed but all he did was grab the Vervain bracelet and ripped it off her. He dropped it to the ground, hissed in pain and shook out his slightly burned fingers.

"Now you can…." She trailed off. _Compel me_, she finished in her head. He looked into her eyes.

"Stay here." He compelled her. She didn't move. _What am I doing? _he asked himself. He looked back at Cynthia, backing away.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm on edge! I'm drinking the human stuff and it's screwing with my head! She knows now! She wasn't supposed to find out, I didn't want her to find out, now everything's ruined!" He cried.

"You didn't want me to know?" Cynthia asked, still trying to make herself move, but she couldn't.

"No! I didn't want Elena to know!" He yelled.

"Stefan… Just calm down." She pleaded with him.

"I can't be calm… I'm freaking hungry!" He darted forward and stared at her neck. Cynthia looked at him, her eyes wide with fear.

"I don't want to hurt people… I don't do that… I'm the good brother." He whispered to himself.

"You are. You are better than this, Stefan! You don't want to hurt me." She tried to reach him.

"No, I don't want to hurt you… I want to kill you, I want to rip into your skin and feed on your blood!" He reached over and touched hair, moving it away from her neck. She struggled to move again, but her body wouldn't obey her due to the compulsion. He touched her neck.

"Your carotid artery is right here. If you puncture this just right you can control the blood flow. It takes practice but it doesn't make a mess and you don't waste any…" He stroked her neck.

"Stefan…" She pleaded.

"If I do this, there's no going back."

"Then don't! Stefan, look at me! Look at me!" She cried. He looked into her eyes.

"You know me! Stefan, you're one of my best friends. Don't do this!"

"I just want one taste. That's all I need. Just one taste…" He leaned down and bit into her neck.

* * *

Back at the party, Mrs. Lockwood caught up to Tyler.

"Where is your sister? She's missed the whole thing!" Carol looked around, trying to spot Cynthia.

"I don't know."

"Stefan's gone too." Tyler chuckled.

"Then if you find one, you'll find the other, trust me."

* * *

Stefan was pacing in front of Cynthia. Blood ran down her neck and onto her shoulder and chest, coating the front of her dress. She couldn't even reach up to put pressure on her wound. Stefan ran his fingers through his hair.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" He went over to her and stared at the blood running down her neck. His eyes shifted to meet hers.

"Why aren't you running?!" He demanded.

"You compelled me not to!" She reminded him through clenched teeth. He looked shocked. He didn't even remember compelling her at all. He looked into her eyes again.

"I need you to run. Do you hear me? Run! Run, run!" He ordered. She sprinted away, not hesitating. Stefan darted in front of her.

"You told me to run!" She reminded him.

"I changed my mind." He bit into her neck again. Elena, Damon and Bonnie ran up as she screamed.

"Stefan!" Elena yelled. Stefan let her go and she crumpled to the ground, holding her neck and silently crying from the pain.

"Stefan, come on, get in control! You're not gonna hurt Cynthia anymore, are you, baby brother? Breathe through it, man." Damon told him. Stefan caught Damon and threw him into a tree. Damon got back up.

"Stefan, stop it!" Elena cried. Suddenly Stefan held his head painfully. Bonnie stared at him, concentrating on the spell. She stopped once he was on the ground. Stefan looked around, shocked.

"Its okay, Stefan…" Damon tried to reassure him. Stefan got up and darted away. Elena and Bonnie ran over to Cynthia.

"You're okay. You're okay." Elena reassured her, holding her close. Damon looked at Cynthia.

"She okay?" He asked.

"She's…She lost a lot of blood..."

* * *

Cynthia was lying in a hospital bed, now wearing a hospital gown and a bandage on her neck. Tyler sat on her bedside. She slowly woke up.

"Hmm… Hey." She greeted him weakly.

"What happened? Do you remember?"

"No." She lied.

"Well, you should rest."

"Okay…"


	19. Blood Brothers and Isobel

**A/N I combined the episodes 'blood brothers' and 'Isobel' because there wasn't a lot that Cynthia could do in either. Please review as always. **

* * *

Cynthia swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed and hurried over to the stack of clothes Tyler had left her.

"Should you be up?" She spun around. Anna stood in the doorway.

"Actually, they just released me."

"Hmm… Do you know where Stefan is?"

"Haven't seen him since last night." Anna crossed the room, glancing behind her to make sure no one was listening.

"Well, if you see him, let me know. I owe him a good kick in the-."

"Anna!" Cynthia hissed, looking over Anna worriedly. Anna rolled her eyes.

"I can hear anyone coming. I'm glad you're okay." They hugged each other. Then Cynthia motioned towards the papers in Anna's hand.

"So what are those?"

"School stuff. Tomorrow I will officially be a student at MysticFallsHigh School." Cynthia grinned.

"Awesome! Then if anyone messes with me, you can really kick 'em!" Anna laughed and hugged her again.

"I gotta go, but I'll see you later."

Once Cynthia was out of her hospital gown and in normal clothes, Tyler came into the room.

"You ready to go, sis?" He asked. She nodded and went to hug him.

"More than ready. Let's go."

* * *

The next day, Alaric stood in the school cafeteria, handing out papers to students.

"So these are the specs for the History department. For the Founder's Day float, we'll be recreating the battle of Willow Creek. Tyler has been nominated at the head of the production department."

"By who?" Tyler asked, annoyed.

"By me. I've seen you're sketches, they're good."

"I'm not really into the-."

"Well, you just pick you team, be creative and… don't screw up." Alaric hurried off.

"Great…." Tyler said sarcastically. He turned to Matt.

"You want to help me out with this?"

"Not really, no." Matt walked off. Tyler turned to Cynthia hopefully. She put her hand to her neck, which still had a bandage on it.

"Ow… My neck… I… I don't think I can work." She said dramatically. He reached over and picked her up off the floor.

"You are such a liar." He retorted. She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well, my neck does hurt a little. And don't drop me!" He laughed and put her down.

"I gotta go find someone helpful." He held up the papers Alaric had given him. She nodded. He walked off. Cynthia turned and walked out into the school hallway, which was empty. She slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Hey." She looked up. Jeremy came over and sat down beside her. He brushed her hair away to see the bandage on her neck.

"The doctor's give you anything for that?" He asked. She reached into her backpack and held up a prescription bottle.

"Yeah, but I don't like them. Big pills. I have a small mouth." She said, dropping the bottle back into her bag.

"Actually, from my experience, you have a big mouth. But I'll let it go since you're hurt." She laughed a little but then grimaced.

"Thanks."

"So what did that to you? I doubt it's a rabid squirrel like everyone says." He told her. She looked over at him.

"Do they seriously say 'rabid squirrel'?"

"No, they said 'animal', but it would to be a small one to make a bite like that." He said, motioning to her neck. She nodded once.

"We both know what it was." She whispered. He nodded once.

"Who was it?"

"Not Anna." She assured him. Then she laughed again.

"But she did promise to kick anyone in the place where the sun don't shine if they messed with me again." Jeremy laughed too and slung an arm around her shoulder.

"I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure." He hugged her quickly and then got up and left.

* * *

Stefan started to go around the corner, then saw Cynthia and hesitated. He took a deep breath and walked over to her. It was amazing how fast she was on her feet from her original position on her floor.

"Hey. I'm sorry about what happened." He told her.

"You mean almost killing me?" She edged around him and made to leave. Stefan grabbed her wrist and turned her back around.

"I'm sorry." He repeated sincerely. She nodded once and took her wrist back.

"Did you know that Jeremy wrote a report on vampires? You're his best friend, Cynthia, if you know anything-." Stefan started.

"Yeah, Jeremy knows about vampires. But if you so much as look at him to compel him, I will make your life a living heck. That goes for Damon too. Got it?" She turned on her heel and walked off. Elena walked over to Stefan.

"What was that about?" She asked curiously, watching as Cynthia rounded the corner, glancing over her shoulder at Stefan and Elena before she was out of sight.

"That was Cynthia threatening Damon and me." Elena's eyes widened a bit as he said that. He looked down at her as he led her away.

"You can't say she's not tough…"

* * *

That night, Cynthia was in bed when her window slid open. She jerked up into a sitting position. Anna climbed into her room.

"Jeez, you scared me." Cynthia got out of bed and went over to her.

"My mother… She's dead."

"What? Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry." Cynthia hugged her tightly. Anna cried into her shoulder.


	20. Founders Day

**A/N The final episode of the season! I hope you guys like it. I'll have the second season up soon. **

* * *

Cynthia looked around as the Mystic Falls Founder's Day parade started. Damon walked over to her.

"Hello, little Lockwood." He greeted her. She spun around to face him.

"Leave me alone, Damon."

"Hey, hey, no need to be hostile! We're both just loners enjoying a parade." He told her. She sighed.

"You don't seem to be enjoying it." He noted.

"It's nothing."

"Is it your neck? Cause I could heal that up like this." He snapped his fingers together. She shook her head.

"It's not my neck. It's… never mind." She walked away. She found Jeremy and went over to him.

"Hey, Jeremy." She greeted him.

"Hey… You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

"About how I miss your mom? Yeah. I remember she used to take me with you guys when you went around the parade and would buy us ice cream afterwards. It was the only part of the day I looked forward to because I knew that my parents would never be there for me." She said. He nodded once.

"I miss that."

"Me too…"

* * *

The sun had already set by the time that Mayor Lockwood went over to Cynthia.

"Decided to act like I exist?" She asked with a scoff.

"You need to get out of here. Get back to the house and stay there." He told her. She gave him a confused look.

"What?"

"Just go, please." He hurried off. Cynthia turned and made her way through the crowd. Something about the worried tone in his voice made her want to obey. Fireworks started behind her and cheers rose up. Suddenly a high pitched noise reached Cynthia's ears. She screamed and fell to the ground, hitting the pavement on her knees and holding her head. Two deputies came and hauled her to her feet, injecting her with Vervain. She was unconscious by the time they got the needle into her arm. They carried her down into the basement of Grayson Gilbert's office. Anna and Damon were just waking up as they put Cynthia down on the cement floor. Anna grabbed John's ankle.

"She's…not a…vampire." She croaked.

"You can head up. I'll take it from here." John told the deputies. They went upstairs. John kneeled down, took a stake from his pocket and stabbed it into Anna's heart. He poured more gasoline around the room and then left, throwing a match behind him to ignite everything. Cynthia moaned as she woke up. Damon looked over at her.

"Cynthia… Hey…" He mumbled. She sat up straight and looked at him.

"What… what happened?" She saw Anna, a stake buried in her chest. Cynthia screamed, scrambling over to her.

"Vervain doesn't effect you, but the Gilbert device did…" Damon said, frowning. Cynthia backed away from Anna's body. She put a finger to her ear and it came back bloody. She moaned again.

"You need to get out of here." Damon told her. She pointed to the stairs up, which were on fire.

"Another way out?" He asked. She shook her head, coughing too much from the smoke to answer. Just then, the Mayor sat up.

"Mayor, is that you?" Damon asked. Cynthia looked at him, confused and scared.

"What are you doing here? I told you to get home!" He told Cynthia.

"I know, I was going, but then…" She trailed off, not sure what had happened. A tomb vampire sat up.

"Mayor Lockwood!" It snapped the Mayor's neck. Cynthia screamed again, tears streaming down her face. Damon rolled over onto his side. The fire was spreading to the support beams. Damon darted forward and knocked Cynthia away as a support beam fell. He groaned.

"Shouldn't have done that." He moaned, collapsing on the floor again. Cynthia sat up, grimaced as she realized how hard she'd landed on her arm and then moved closer to him. Just then the flames thinned out on the stairs. Stefan darted over to them.

"Get her out." Damon mumbled. Stefan pulled Cynthia to her feet.

"I… I can walk… get him." She choked out. Stefan picked up Damon and the three of them hurried out of the building. Elena ran over to Cynthia.

"Oh my god! Are you okay? Why were you there?" Cynthia fell to her knees on the ground and Elena hugged her around the shoulders. Stefan went over to them. Cynthia was coughing, crying and cradling her right arm. Elena looked up at Stefan.

"We need to get her to the hospital."

* * *

At the hospital, Tyler walked over to Matt.

"Hey, man. I'm so sorry. Look, I don't even know what happened."

"It's okay, man. She'll be alright." Matt assured him. Tyler sat down with him.

"How's your sister?" Matt added. Tyler ran a hand through his hair and just shook his head.

"The doctors are saying she'll be alright, but she inhaled a lot of smoke from that fire at the Gilbert clinic, so her asthma acted up and at some point tonight she fell and landed pretty hard on her arm, but it's not broken…"

"Shouldn't you be with her?"

"Nah… She's out like a light right now. I'll check on her later." Sheriff Forbes walked over to them and both boys got to their feet.

"What's happening? Is she alright?" Matt asked.

"There was some internal bleeding; they're taking her into surgery." The Sheriff explained.

"What else did they say? Is she gonna be okay?"

"They're gonna do everything they can." Matt sat down again. She turned to Tyler.

"Tyler, have you talked to your mom?"

"I left her a message telling her I was here. Not like she came running to check on Cynthia or anything…" Tyler scoffed, shaking his head.

"Tyler, you need to call her."

"What is it?"

"It's… it's your dad…"

* * *

**A/N I thought long and hard about keeping Anna alive, but in the end I decided to stick with that part of the story. However, it will change Cynthia a bit because I can promise she'll be tougher in season two. **

**Also, a lot of people in the reviews have been saying how they want Cynthia to activate her werewolf curse. My answer to that: she will in season two, but not in the way you'd expect. I have a special surprise regarding that in store. **


	21. Authors Note

The first two chapter of the The Lockwood Diaries Season Two are now up if you want to check them out.

And I'm sure you've noticed that I changed the cover. I found an actress that fits Cynthia better I think.

~RoniCullen


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